Guardian
by Sweet June Rain
Summary: (AU,OOC, OCs!) Stephanie loses her family at a young age but is taken in by a mysterious person, leading her onto a different path and an even bigger destiny. She must face deadly foes and her own demons to protect the thing that's most precious to her. This will lead up to a Babe, but it's going to take time! (Strong Stephanie! Stronger Carlos and Teenage Diesel!)
1. Chapter 1

A New Story, and this one has potential! 3 I'm in Japan and I need to write some new material so bleh!

Anyways updates will kind of be frequent, since it's almost break time over here, can't make any promises.

Warnings will be posted according to each chapter. This first chapter is character death, nothing too major...maybe?

Disclaimer: It's not mine, I'm not making any money off of this, JE owns all the characters except the OCs...I own them .w.

Enjoy! The story!

WARNING: This isn't beated!

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_Guardian_

_Chapter One_

_The Rain_

**20 Years ago**

**May 13, 19XX**

**Alternate Route 156**

**Frederick MD.**

It was raining when Stephanie Plum woke up from the darkness that consumed her. She let out a moan of pain and blinked opened blue eyes. Why was she in pain, what happened to her? She could remember what happened before the darkness set in. She had been in the car beside her sister, in the backseat. Her parents had been in the front. Oh yeah, that's right, they had been on the their way to visit Grandma and Grandpa Plum. It was the first trip of summer vacation. Both Stephanie and Valarie had been excited to learn that they would be heading to Florida for two weeks. Though the downside had been that they would be taking the car and not a train or a plane. That meant being in a car with her sister for almost 18 hours. Stephanie could recall her sister sleeping and her mother had been asleep as well. The radio had been turned down low…it had been only Stephanie and her father awake and they were talking about the things they would do at the beach. Stephanie could remember a flash of light and then nothing.

Stephanie let out a pained gasp and got up, holding her side. Why was her side hurting, why was she outside in the middle of the road? Stephanie turned around in the darkness and let out a sound, seeing flames coming from a big pile of something not too far from her. Stephanie quickly made her way over to the flames and let out a loud scream.

"DADDY!" Stephanie screamed, running over to a figure near the flames, "DADDY!"

Stephanie leaned over her father and shook him hard sobbing loudly, "Daddy! Please wake up! Please Daddy! Please!"

Stephanie knew then that this was their car, she had been thrown out of it from a crash and her father had been thrown out as well. She had survived, but her father hadn't. Stephanie got up from her spot near her father and whispered, "Mommy…Val?"

Stephanie let out a sound of pain, reaching out to grab her side. She looked down and in the light of the flames saw that her small side was covered in blood, her blood. There was something made of metal sticking out from her side and it hurt really badly. Stephanie was too scared to pull it out her side, so she just kept one hand over it and walked over to the other side of the flipped, burning vehicle. She let out a sob, backing away from the flaming wreck. Her sister and mother were still in the car, her mother halfway out the windshield, and her sister lay in a crumple heap. Their bodies burned in the wreck and it told Stephanie that they were definitely not alive.

Everyone in her family was dead, and she was the only one left alive. Stephanie didn't know what to do, where would she go? She didn't know where she was or when someone would find her she was only 6, the only place she knew by heart was her home neighborhood.

Stephanie sat down on the road, the rain pouring down on her. She was so scared, she wanted her parents to be alive, she wanted Val to be alive as well. Why hadn't she died in the crash as well?

Stephanie wiped her nose and looked up at the wreck. She blinked and leaned forward. In the light of the flames she could see someone, walking towards the flames. Stephanie watched as the person walked up to the body of her father and lean down to look at him. The person then walked around the flames and peered into the car before turning to look at Stephanie, who was too shocked to move. Thanks to the flames, Stephanie could see that the person was a man, with long blood red hair and sharp green eyes. He was tall and domineering looking, dressed in a power suit and shiny shoes. The funny part about it, in the eyes of Stephanie, was that the man wasn't getting wet in the rain, even though he didn't have an umbrella or anything.

The man gave Stephanie a long stare, before his sharp green eyes turned to look at the wound on Stephanie's side. Stephanie let out a whimper and began to back away as the man began to walk over to her. She closed her eyes and said, in a soft voice, "Please…don't hurt me."

When Stephanie opened her eyes, she let out a tiny shriek of terror. The man had somehow found his way beside her and was now looking at her wounded side. Stephanie made to get up and run but the man grabbed her shoulder and say, in a low voice, "Don't move, the metal rod is in deep tissue, I don't want you jostling it some more, and cause some serious damage."

"Are you going to hurt me?" Stephanie asked, looking up at the man with big eyes, "Are you going to kill me?"

"No, I'm going to take you somewhere safe, it seems that a bad man was out here, and I was too late to stop him, don't worry," The man said, his green eyes softening, "I'm going to make sure you're healed and taken care of."

"A bad man killed my family?" Stephanie asked, earning a head nod, "Why?"

"Sometimes, bad people don't need a reason," The man said, gently picking Stephanie up in his arms, "They do whatever they want to, because it makes them feel good, but you won't have to worry about that, child, I'll see to it that you never have to deal with such pain like that again."

"I don't have a mommy or daddy anymore," Stephanie said softly, looking up at the man, gripping his shoulders, "Where are you taking me?"

"Someplace safe," Was all the man said before he rested his hands over Stephanie's eyes, "Now sleep, and when you wake up, you'll be in a new home."

Stephanie felt sleep tug at her mind and the next thing she knew she was fast asleep, safe in the arms of her savior.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Toga! You're back!" A tiny child squealed, running up to the tall man and hugging his knees, "Heidi's missed you a lot, did you bring me a present?!"

The tall man chuckled and looked down at the child in front of him, mindful of the injured one in his arms. The child could easily pass as a three year old, with curly black hair and wide amber eyes set in a small oval shaped face that was the color of milk chocolate. She was dressed in a floor length, puffed sleeved dress that was pink with a white ribbon wrapped around her torso. She gave the man another smile and asked, again, "Did you bring me a present?"

"I did, I found you a friend, Heidi" Toga said, crouching down so the tiny child could see the child in his arms.

"Oh, she has blood all over her," Heidi said, her eyes wide, "She's hurt…."

"Mhmm, you know those bad men, the ones I told you about?" Toga asked Heidi, earning a head nod, "They hurt her and killed her family, she's going to live with us, from now on, she'll be your friend and when she's older, she'll also be your guardian, whenever I'm not here, she will watch over you in my stead."

"Oh…." Heidi said, looking into Toga's green eyes, "Heidi will have two guardians?"

"She will, now, come along, we have to heal your new friend and acclimate her into her new life," Toga said, leading the child out of the ornate foyer he entered, "She will learn the way of our kind and she will thrive."

Heidi grabbed Toga's pant leg and said, with a big smile, "Heidi has a new friend!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Heidi's new friend….wake up…I want to play!"

Stephanie let out a soft groan and said, turning her head, "Five more minutes, Mommy, I'm still sleepy…"

"I'm not your Mommy silly! I'm your new friend!" A child's voice said, making Stephanie open a bleary blue eye, "Yay! You're awake!"

Stephanie let out a sigh of content, her fingers tracing a pattern on the soft bed she lay in. She wasn't cold or in pain anymore. She was warm and safe, that was the big one, feeling safe. Stephanie turned her head and found herself looking in the eyes of a small child with amber eyes and curly black hair. The child clambered her way to Stephanie's form and said, "Hello, Heidi's new friend, I'm Heidi, we're going to have so much fun together!"

Stephanie sat up in the bed a took a look around. The room she was in was large and lavish, with a small sitting area and several doors that led to closets, a bathroom and one even led to a private balcony. The room was brightly colored with soft blues and crèmes and one side of the room had windows on it, which let in the morning light. She wasn't outside and she wasn't near the place where….

"Daddy…Mommy..Val," Stephanie whimpered, her eyes filling with tears, "My family is gone, I'm all alone now…."

Stephanie let out a loud sob, and covered her eyes, hunching forward in the bed. She was all alone now, an orphan. What would happen to her now?

"Heidi's Friend, don't cry, you're not all alone, you have Heidi and Toga now," Heidi said, wrapping her arms around Stephanie's neck and hugging her, "You're not alone. Don't worry, Toga is going to catch the bad guys who killed your family."

Stephanie let out one last sob and looked over to the child who smiled and hugged her again. Heidi patted her back and said, "I was alone too, Toga leaves me here all by myself and I get very lonely. You don't have to worry, Heidi's friend, we can stay together, and we won't be lonely anymore you won't be sad anymore too."

Stephanie bit her lip and nodded her head. She wouldn't be alone in this big scary world. She had a new friend and a mysterious man to watch over her.

"Good, Heidi's friend, now, let's go get Toga, he healed you last night, you don't even have a scar," Heidi said, climbing off the side of the big bed, "Toga can get us breakfast and then we can both show you around. We live in a big house and there's lots of secrets too!"

"I have a name," Stephanie said, following the smaller child off the bed, "It's Stephanie, Stephanie Plum, I'm six, how old are you?"

"I don't know," Heidi said, grabbing Stephanie's hand, "I'm old, real old, but it's okay, cause Toga says that I'm still growing!"

Heidi gave Stephanie another smile and then opened one of the doors, revealing that it was an exit.

"After Breakfast," Heidi said, leading Stephanie down a massive corridor, "I'll show you my room, and we can play with my toys, Toga buys me lots of toys, since I can't go past the black gates."

Heidi stopped in front a window and pointed out of it. Stephanie pressed her face against the glass and looked out. There was a large amount of land, all surrounded by tall black gates. Stephanie turned to Heidi and asked, "Why can't you leave, Heidi?"

"Cause….I don't know, Toga says I'm not ready yet to know, but it must be important," Heidi said, shrugging her small shoulders, "Grownups are weird like that."

Heidi tugged at Stephanie's hand and led her down a flight of stairs and into a large room that held the longest table Stephanie had ever seen with several chairs surrounding it. At the head of the table sat the man that saved Stephanie last night. Heidi gave Stephanie a smile and then led her over to the man exclaiming, "Toga, Stephanie's awake! Heidi and Stephanie are hungry!"

Toga gave the two girls a smile and said, motioning to the seats next to him, "Well come and eat, children, Stephanie I see that you're looking much better, how is your side?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore," Stephanie said, lifting up the shirt she wore to show that there was no wound, "See! no more boo-boo!"

"Good," Toga said, nodding his head and ruffling Stephanie's hair, "Eat, after you eat, we shall get started on getting you accustomed to our lifestyle, which means, I'm getting you a tutor for schooling and extra activities."

"Am I going to live here?" Stephanie asked bashfully, looking over to Toga, "You're not sending me to an orphanage?"

"Heavens no, you'll stay here and learn our ways, Stephanie, and when the time comes, you'll become something bigger and better," Toga said, earning a small smile from Stephanie, "I know we can't replace what you lost, Stephanie, but I promise you, Heidi and I will be your family."

Stephanie gave Toga a bright smile and nodded her head saying, "Thank you…Toga."

She knew it would be a long time before the deaths of her parents and sister would stop hurting, but at least she knew she wouldn't be alone during this horrible time. Stephanie took out a bite out of her pancakes and smiled as Heidi turned to Stephanie and told her about all the fun rooms in the house.

Stephanie would be fine with a little bit of time.

TBC...

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Oh noes, Stephanie is all alone in the world, well, she isn't now, she's with a mysterious man now, what could he be going on about. Tell me your thoughts about the start of this story in a review, please? .w.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two! Enjoy! Thank you for the reviews, please keep them coming w Please...

Warnings: None

Disclaimer in Chapter one!

Enjoy!

* * *

_Guardian_

_Chapter two_

_Grown Up_

**Present day**

**April 15 20XX**

**Location Unknown.**

"Stephanie Plum, you've spent 20 years training and educating yourself in the ways of our kind," Toga said softly, looking at the woman kneeling before him, "And I am proud to say that in these 20 years, you have met and exceeded my expectations. Rise before me, New Guardian and accept your new weapon."

"Thank you, Master Toga," Stephanie Plum murmured, lifting her head up and looking at the man, "It's been an honor training with you and our kin, I swear on my life that the one I'm sworn to protect will be safe and sound, no matter the danger."

Toga inclined his head at Stephanie and said, bowing low, "And so they shall be safe and sound with you, Stephanie."

Stephanie's blue eyes widened as Toga lifted up her new weapon, a long thin sword, with a black ebony hit, with ancient runes etched in it. The blade, which was probably made of diamond dust, was covered by a matching black ebony cover. Stephanie hesitated but then took the sword from Togo's hands and slid the blade out, gasping in awe.

The blade was indeed made of diamond dust infused steel, with runes of protection etched into it. The blade looked deadly and would stay sharp no matter how many times she would use the sword. Stephanie slid the case over the blade and looked up to Toga before squealing and hugging the man tightly.

"Oh thank you Toga!" Stephanie said, kissing Toga's cheek, "This is the best sword ever! It's even better than Lucas's sword, he's going to be green with envy, when I show him this!"

"You deserve it, Stephanie," Toga said, patting Stephanie's back, "Though we are in a sacred room and this display of affection is frowned upon in this room."

Toga let go of Stephanie and then turned to a dark corner, saying, in a loud voice, "And so is sneaking in, front and center, young woman!"

"Shoot!" Stephanie sighed and rolled her eyes as her charge slunk out of the darkest part of the room and over to them, "How'd you know I was in the corner, Toga?!"

"I know you, Heidi," Toga said, walking over to a girl who looked to be 14, "What have I told you, Heidi about this room."

"It's forbidden," The girl, Heidi said, huffing and puffing, crossing her arms, "But why Toga, you never tell me why? Stephanie can come into this room but I can't. It's not fair!"

"She has been training for this moment for nearly all her life," Toga said, grabbing Heidi by her shoulders and steering her out the room, "This room is for Guardians only, you are not one, you are our charge, now, go back to studying your lessons, I will punish you later!"

"Not fair!" Heidi sighed, just as Toga closed the door on her face.

Stephanie let her sword roll around in her hands, watching Toga lock the door mumbling curses. It still freaked her out a bit when she took the time to compare herself to Heidi. They had both grown up together, they had taken the same lessons together and played the same games together, but while Stephanie had grown, Heidi hadn't. By the time Stephanie was 21, Heidi had seemed to age only a 10 years. Toga had commented lightly that that was how their kind grew, millimeters, not feet.

"She gets more restless, as she grows," Stephanie said softly, sitting down in a plush wing backed leather chair, "Toga, you can't keep her in the mansion forever."

"I will keep her here to protect her," Toga said, sitting down close to Stephanie, "This Mansion has enough wards and protection spells on them. If she were to step outside the mansion then she would in peril danger. You've been training for years to become her Guardian, if something were to happen to me, you will continue to ensure that she will stay safe, even if it means locking her up in this place for good. We've had several run ins with the enemy, Stephanie, you've seen how they act, they won't stop at nothing until they get Heidi."

Stephanie gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, staring into nothingness. Yes, she had encountered their enemy, the one she swore revenge on for killing her family. They were cold hearted savages, somehow from the same group as Toga. They kill rape and pillage without a care in the world, causing wars and mayhem wherever they landed. The enemy had come close to finding the mansion but Toga had struck with a vengeance, killing those who would even dare to put Heidi in danger. Yes, Stephanie would have done the same thing too. She would have to keep her friend tucked away in secret, even if that hurt Heidi's feelings.

She was too precious to fall into the hands of their enemy, she trained her whole life for this.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**December 14, 19XX**

**Location Unknown**

Stephanie let out a hiss of displeasure as she sunk into the tub of iced water. She hated when Toga pushed her too far, but he had been angry with her, so she couldn't find much fault with his training session. Stephanie leaned her head back on the edge of the claw footed tub and winced as she felt her knotted muscles spasm. Today, during the training session, Toga had Stephanie running for miles, and then he taught her some defensive techniques. They had practiced from sunrise all the way into the evening, with only a short break for food. She was tired and crossed and wanted to do nothing more than to sleep.

Heidi hadn't helped in this situation at all either. She had whined and moaned about wanting to learn how to fight too, but Toga had given her a look and told her, in his no nonsense voice that she would never learn any fighting techniques. Stephanie, being the older one of the two, had commented that Heidi should learn how to defend herself as well. Heidi was her friend, the younger sisters she protected and loved. Why wouldn't Toga not want to keep her safe by not training her?

"Heidi will never see this violence, Stephanie," Toga said, as Stephanie ran beside him through the forest track, "And do you want to know why?"

"Why?" Stephanie hissed, forcing herself to keep up with Toga, "Why shouldn't she learn some basic defense, Toga?! It's stupid to keep her untrained!"

Toga stopped suddenly and rounded on Stephanie, his green eyes dark and his voice low.

"Do not question the methods I raise Heidi with," Toga said, crouching low and grabbing Stephanie by her arm, "She won't need to learn any fighting methods, you are her Guardian, Stephanie, you will fight in her stead. Heidi isn't like you or I, she's far from us, Stephanie, we are merely knights in this world, Heidi is something else, something more special, and it's our duty to protect her, to see to it that she will never see any violence. Do you understand, Stephanie?"

"No, I don't understand!" Stephanie snapped, before Toga growled and let go of her, turning his back on her, "That's dumb Toga, and you know it."

"10 miles, Stephanie, that's 50 laps around the property, I want 50 laps from you, and I want them all by the time the sunsets, and then we'll go through offensive drills for two hours."

Stephanie could feel her temper rising, she wasn't some adult or robot, she was 10! How in the heck would she get 50 laps in today?

"March, hurry up Stephanie," Toga said, pushing Stephanie back to the property, "If you're not done by sunset, you'll be running all night!"

"Yes, Toga," Stephanie spat out, running back to the property, "Bastard…."

"I heard that, Miss. Plum, three hours of offensive drills and one hour of defensive drills as well." Toga's voice drifted to Stephanie, earning a loud curse from said girl.

Stephanie opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling of the bathroom. It wasn't fair…why did Stephanie had to train so hard, but Heidi doesn't have to. Heck the girl wanted to train, she wanted learn how to fight but Toga wasn't going to teach her anything. It wasn't fair that he was so tough on Stephanie but not on Heidi.

"Stephanie?" A voice broke Stephanie out of her thoughts, "Are you in pain?"

Stephanie turned to the source of the voice and found Heidi standing by the door of the bathroom, her hands tucked behind her back and one foot over the other foot in a gesture that let Stephanie know that Heidi was feeling guilty, for what she didn't know.

"A little," Stephanie said, watching Heidi shuffle over to the tub, "It's past bedtime, if Toga catches you up, you'll lose your toys."

"I don't care," Heidi said a determined look on her face, "He punished you because you stuck up for me. Heidi doesn't like it when Toga's mean to you for helping me."

"Stop speaking in the third person," Stephanie said, plucking Heidi's nose and wincing as her muscles ached, "Shit, that hurts!"

"I can heal you!" Heidi said with a smile, her small hand grabbing Stephanie's shoulder, "You'll be fine soon!"

"Heidi I don't see what you can do-" Stephanie paused feeling warmth seep into her sore muscles. She could feel them unknotting and relaxing until it felt as though she was nothing but a puddle of content goo. Stephanie sighed for a moment and then turned to Heidi. Heidi gave her a smile and said, "All better?"

"Much better," Stephanie said, climbing out the tub and wrapping a towel around her, "Thanks, Heidi, you're the best little munchkin around."

"M' Not a munchkin, I'm older than you!" Heidi whined, grabbing Stephanie's hand, "I wish I could join you in training, it looks better than lessons and stupid etiquette sessions."

Stephanie led Heidi out the bathroom and into her room. She had learned how to sneak from Toga and could almost startle the man. She needed a few more years before she could scare him. However, she could now sneak around the house with ease and Heidi always had soft feet, they could get away with murder if they wanted to.

Stephanie ushered Heidi into her room and closed the door. She jumped out the way as Heidi dashed to her bed and jumped on it, borrowing into the covers until only her sharp amber eyes were the only things to be seen. Stephanie dried off and tossed on a nightgown before she too jumped in the bed beside Heidi. Stephanie wrapped her arms around Heidi and landed a raspberry on the girl's cheek, earning a shriek of laughter from her.

"You wanna learn how to fight?" Stephanie asked Heidi, watching the girl sit up and nod her head, "Okay, I'll teach you, but you have to keep it a secret, Toga said that you shouldn't learn how to defend yourself, but I think you need to, we can start tomorrow night, if you want to."

Stephanie giggled as Heidi's eyes got round with joy, "Really? You'll teach me?!" At Stephanie's head nod, Heidi squealed and hugged her saying, "Thank you Stephanie, I'll be the best student ever!"

"I can't teach you much, but I can make sure that if you're ever alone, you can protect yourself," Stephanie said, earning a nod from the child, "Good, now, let's go to sleep, Toga might be on his way here to check up on us."

"Heidi loves her Stephanie so much!"

"Stop talking in the third person, Heidi!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Present Day

April 16th 20XX

Location Unknown.

"Wow…." Heidi whispered, pulling Stephanie's sword out the case, "Wowwie wow wow! Stephanie! This is the coolest sword ever! Can I cut something with it, please?!"

"No," Stephanie said, snatching her sword from Heidi, just before the girl swung it around wildly, "Toga would kill me, if he knew that I even let you touch it."

Heidi huffed and lay back on Stephanie's bed, looking up at the canopy a pout on her face. She turned her body to Stephanie and gave her a puppy eyed look saying, in a soft voice, "When did you become such a stickler for the rules, Steph?"

"When I became your official Guardian," Stephanie answered, turning to Heidi who huffed and rolled away from her face, "Heidi this is a serious thing, being you Guardian, I'll protect you with my life, if need be. I have to follow some of the rules now, plus, I'm an adult now, I have to shoulder some responsibilities."

"Some of the rules?" Heidi asked, sitting up and looking at Stephanie, "So only the more serious ones, right?"

"Right, I still teach you some basic defensive moves and maybe teach you how to use some knives."

"Oh, you're the best friend I've ever had!" Heidi said, launching herself off the bed and hugging Stephanie, "The bestest friend ever!"

"I'm your only friend," Stephanie said, kicking her boots off, once Heidi got back on the bed and climbing on the bed beside Heidi, "I met with Lucas and the others, a few days back."

"Oh…" Heidi said, sitting up and looking down at Stephanie, "And…how were they?"

"Pretentious jerks," Stephanie mumbled, looking at Heidi, "They couldn't believe it that some lowly human could pass the Guardian Trials. They were floored when they found out that I got through the trials with the fastest time ever recorded."

"You should have told them that you're also learning magic from me," Heidi said, with a chuckle, "They would have had hear attacks!"

"I can only do the basics, doing magic drains me," Stephanie said, crossing her arms, "It's very tiring."

"It's a very rare gift," Heidi said, crossing her legs, fixing her dress as she did, "Humans aren't supposed to know how to use magic, they don't have the right channels."

"I'm not telling them anything, and give them more ammo," Stephanie sighed, "They already hate me, I just can't wait to rub it in their faces that I have a better weapon then them!"

"You're one of my Guardians now," Heidi said, in a breathless tone, "You can take me out to the town down in the valley!"

"No," Stephanie said, sitting up, "Out of the question, Heidi it's dangerous for you to leave the mansion!"

"That's what everyone says," Heidi said, clambering off Stephanie's bed, "You and Toga, I'm in danger if I leave the mansion! Why?! Why am I in danger, Toga won't tell me and you won't tell me either…."

"Heidi, I assure you, it's too dangerous for you, you're better off-" Stephanie started but Heidi cut her off.

"I've snuck out the mansion before, I've been past the black gates!" Heidi said, earning a pale face from Stephanie, "It's not that bad, I've been close to the village, there's no danger! Come on Stephanie I just want to see other people!"

Heidi let out a sob and grabbed at Stephanie's waist, "Please Stephanie, let's go, Toga's going out for the day tomorrow, we can be back before he even knows we were gone!"

"You need to tell me where you snuck out, Heidi, that means that there's a hole in the protections around the mansion," Stephanie said, getting up and going to the door, "Come on we'll get this-"

"I'll tell you where it is," Heidi said, with a coy smile, "If only…you take me to the village for an hour."

Stephanie bristled and said, "Heidi this is serious! You can't expect me to-"

"Take it or leave it, Stephanie, I'm not telling you anything, unless you take me to the village," Heidi said, crossing her arms, "And the place I sneak out at is pretty well hidden."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes and then said, in a low voice, "You only get a half hour in the village, you take that or leave it. I'll give you five seconds to decide, then I'll go tell Toga that you've found a hole in the protections and have been sneaking out."

"You wouldn't, he'll lock me up for good," Heidi said, her eyes wide, "You…you promised that you would never tell our secrets to Toga."

"Some secrets need to be told, Heidi, but I'll keep this one, but once we're back, I'm sealing the hole up." Stephanie said, holding her hands up, "Tick tock, Heidi….1…2…3…4…-"

"Alright," Heidi said, with a pout, "When did my manipulations stop working on you?"

"Since I grew up," Stephanie said, giving Heidi a smirk, "Now, we'll leave tomorrow morning. And remember, no talking to anyone and no bringing attention to yourself, alright?"

"Got it!" Heidi said, her frame shaking with excitement. She was going into the village tomorrow!

TBC…

* * *

Some things are being exposed, but not too much, can't let everything be known in only one chapter! Until next time, See ya! Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Enjoy! It's nice to be back at updating something regularly! :D

Warning: Violence that's it.

Disclaimer in chapter 1!

Please review, pretty please .w.?

* * *

_Guardian_

_Chapter 3_

_Parasite_

Stephanie had been dumbfounded, the moment Heidi had shown her the hole in the protection. Who would have thought that untrimmed rosebushes growing through the gate would cause the hole. Stephanie made a mental note to get the bushes trimmed and strengthen the protection around the mansion.

Heidi smiled and said, climbing up the tree that was beside the gate, "See, it's so easy to sneak out, and Toga never knows, only 30 minutes, I know, I know, hurry Stephanie!"

Stephanie followed suit and soon, the two were making their way through the woods, down the valley and before long, they were walking into the small village. Stephanie knew, early on in her stay here at the Mansion that they were in some European country, far from the closet major city. She wasn't sure if it was Austria or Germany, they all tended to look the same in the eyes of Stephanie. The village near the mansion was something out of a sickly sweet picture, painted on a stupid, cheap china plate. It was a small clustered of buildings, with one church with a large cathedral and several tiny shops. Though, this village had several cars and it seemed, several people crowding the town square.

"Oh! A festival!" Heidi said, grabbing Stephanie's hand and tugging at it, "Look at the banner, I've never been to a festival, come on, Steph, I wanna see everything!"

"You only have 30 minutes," Stephanie said as Heidi dragged her into the busy town square, "Stay close to me, and don't let go of my hand!"

"Kay!"

Stephanie let out a groan as Heidi dragged her to several booths, but she did what she promised to do; be silent and not cause trouble. It was just the little window of freedom the girl had desired and she was going to milk it for all that it was worth. The smile on her face made Stephanie relax slightly, but she was still on alert, just in case something happened. If Toga found out about this outing they would both be skinned alive.

"Oh, Stephanie," Heidi said turning to the woman, "Look, a parade, come on, let's get closer!"

"Now wait a moment," Stephanie said, as Heidi tried to drag her forward, "We only have five minutes left, it's time to head back."

"I only want to see this one thing, please," Heidi said, stopping and turning to Stephanie, "Then we can leave."

"Okay," Stephanie said, grunting as someone pushed into her, "Hey now, rude!"

Stephanie gave Heidi as look as the crowd around them started to get rough, obviously, Heidi and Stephanie weren't the only ones wanting to see the parade too. Stephanie heard Heidi yelp in surprise and let out a sound as the girl's hand slipped out of her hand then she was swept away in the crowd.

Stephanie went into panic mode and began to bowl her way through the crowd, her heart pumping and fear licking at the back of her throat. She ignored the shouts of anger and blew past bystanders, running right into the middle of the parade, shouting, "Heidi! Heidi! Where are you?!"

Stephanie ran a hand through her hair and gripped the sword tucked at her waist. She would find Heidi and she hoped to god she didn't have to kill anyone in the process.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Stephanie!" Heidi cried out, pushing her way through the crowd, "Stephanie, please come find me!"

Heidi let out a soft curse and slid in the doorway of a shop, looking out at the crowd. It was official, she had lost Stephanie and now she would have to make her way back to the mansion, and fuck, Toga was going to kill them both.

"I hate when I lose Stephanie, she'll blame me," Heidi sighed, pushing her way through the crowd, trying to make her way to the edge of the village, "And then she'll punish me, I hate when that happens, you know, ever since she's became my Guardian, she's become a real square."

Heidi huffed and said, "Well, hopefully she isn't that much of a square and kick my butt, like Toga is going to do, once I get back to the man-"

Heidi lifted her nose up in the air, and let out a moan of surprise. What in the hell was that divine smell? It smelt of melted sugar, butter and spices. If it was one thing she picked up from her best friend, it was Stephanie's love of food. Heidi smiled and rubbed her stomach, heading right to the smell. Heidi drifted her way through the crowd and found herself in front of a tiny bakery, which had a small open sign on the wooden door, which was slightly ajar.

Heidi opened the door and slipped inside the brightly lit bakery and found herself looking at a table, covered in a checkered printed cloth. On top of the table sat a basket of cookies and a small card that read: "Eat me…"

"Don't mind if I do!" Heidi squealed, running over to the basket and pulling out a handful of cookies, "Oh sugar and chocolate chip!"

Heidi was about to toss a cookie in her mouth but paused and said, "Oh, where are my manners!"

Heidi looked around the empty bakery and asked, in a soft voice, "Are these cookies for free?"

"Of course they're free, Heidi," Heidi answered herself, in a deep voice, "Why I would be stupid to put a basket of cookies out for some pretty girl to eat and then expect her to pay!"

"Okay!" Heidi said smiling broadly and biting into a cookie, "MMM! They're so tasty!"

Heidi giggled around a mouth full of sugar cookies and said, "Oh, it's a shame Stephanie's missing out on free cookies! They're better than her cookies too, and she makes the best double chocolate chunk cookies!"

Heidi smiled and said, "Well, more for me!" Tossing the rest of her cookie in her mouth, just as a cold gust of wind blew through the tiny shop, blowing away the table and the rest of the cookies.

Heidi paused in her chewing and turned her head to where the wind came from. She chewed the rest of her cookie and swallowed it, her eyes slowly widening in something akin to fear. In the back of the bakery stood a person, a withered old woman, hunched over and gripping a rather large stick. She was missing one eye and when she gave Heidi a smile, revealed that she was also missing almost all her teeth and the teeth that were still there were black and rotten. The hair on her head was matted and Heidi shuddered as she saw several insects crawl through it. The old woman was dressed in a ragged robe that was covered in holes and was too big on her scraggly frame. Heidi didn't need to be told that something was off with this old woman in front of her, she could feel it, the uneasiness, creeping into her bones, like a cold chill you couldn't fight off.

"Young lady, didn't your parents tell you to never eat what's not yours," The woman said, shuffling closer to Heidi, who took a step back, "Though it doesn't matter…sweets are such a nice trap to catch pretty prey, and sometimes you catch something valuable, like you…"

Heidi let out a squeak as her back hit the wooden walls. She turned quickly to grab the handle of the door but found, to her horror, that the door was gone. Okay, this was a horrible time to lose Stephanie!

"You don't want to eat me…" Heidi said, sliding away from the old woman, who crept closer to Heidi, "I taste nasty, and…I don't cook evenly…."

"Eat you…?!" The old woman chuckled, pointing her staff at Heidi, "No, sweetie, I want to take what's in you, such power, it's addicting, I can taste it on my tongue, if I can crack you open and take what's inside, I'll live for another 2000 years and own this world!"

Heidi let out whimper and then screamed as a bright light shot out of the end of the staff, right at her. Heidi twisted her body out the way and yelped as she heard the sizzle of some of her hair being burnt and smell of burning wood from the walls that took the most damage.

"Now come along, sweetheart, death is but a stop in the road, it's just yours is just abrupt!" The woman said as Heidi dodged the light, "I promise you that your gifts will be used for my self gain, now hold still!

"STEPHANIE!" Heidi screamed, hiding behind a display case, "COME HELP ME! STEPHANIE!"

Heidi screamed in terror as the display she hid behind seemed to explode, sending her flying into the wall. She landed on the floor with a soft thud and turned to see, with blurry vision the old woman in front of her, holding the staff close to her head.

"That impact jarred you lightly, but that's alright, now I can crack open that head of yours," The woman said placing the end of the staff on Heidi's forehead, "Now hold still this will only hurt for a moment, and then there'll be nothing but darkness."

The old lady gave Heidi a feral smile , lifted the staff up and was swinging down on Heidi's head but a loud crash had her missing and hitting the floor, missing the girl's head by mere inches. The woman let out a hiss of pleasure and turned to the sound of the crash, seeing a figure standing in a hole on the side of the building.

"You louse, you ruined the moment!" The old woman shrieked, rounding on the person.

"Oh yeah, well I'm about to ruin your face!" The person said, making Heidi look up and smile.

"Stephanie, I found you!" Heidi said weakly, trying to stand up, "I knew I would get to you."

"An old parasite, how attractive," Stephanie sneered, walking into the ruined shop, "Why hasn't anyone squashed you yet? I don't know why they haven't, but for trying to kill my friend, I'll have to kill you!"

The old woman turned to Stephanie and hissed, "I think not, you pathetic human! I'll show you that I have still have power!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie let out a hiss as she watched the old woman lift her staff up again, but this time, it was pointed to her and not Heidi. Toga had taught her how to deal with parasites like this, creatures that take the shape of beings and lure them into a trap and take their essence. She couldn't believe that Heidi fell for the parasite's trap but then again, she had been forced into this ignorance by Toga. Stephanie narrowed her eyes and looked at the parasite in front of her. This one was old, maybe several centuries old. It must have lain in dormant for a while, hoping its trap would find a poor soul.

Too bad the poor soul was being watched over by Stephanie.

Stephanie grabbed the hilt of her sword and launched herself at the parasite, just as a beam of light flew out of the end of the staff and right at her. Stephanie ignored Heidi's screams and moved her body out the way of the bright light, still charging at the parasite. She pulled her sword out of its case and charged swung the deadly blade up and down, right on top of the creatures head. She could see the runes on the blade flash as it went through old flesh and bone, slicing the creature in half. Stephanie jumped back as the parasite let out a wail of agony, the two pieces of its body falling to the ground. Stephanie went and grabbed Heidi and pulled her out, just as the remains of the parasite began to melt and bubble on the wooden floors.

She heard Heidi gag softly beside her as something began to wiggle out of the melt pile of goo. Stephanie covered her nose and watched as the true form of the parasite, something that looked akin to a giant bug larvae, began to seek them out, wiggling over to them.

"Oh no you don't!" Stephanie growled, twisting her sword around so that the blade faced downwards, "Piece of shit!"

Stephanie stabbed the parasite with ease and heard Heidi yelped as it shrieked with pain and popped, black and purple goo covering the floor. Stephanie made a face and turned to Heidi saying, "I fucking hate parasites…"

"Oh Stephanie!" Heidi wailed, hugging her friend tightly, "I thought I was going to die, it attacked me and then I found you and then-"

"You have a head wound, you might have a concussion," Stephanie said, watching Heidi shiver, most likely from the aftermath of adrenaline and mild shock, "Can you walk?"

Heidi nodded her head, her arms still wrapped tightly around Stephanie's middle. She took one step and found that her legs had turned to noodles and she would have fallen, if Stephanie hadn't caught her quickly.

"Come on brat," Stephanie said, lifting Heidi in her arms with ease, "Let's get you home, patched up and stuff some chocolate in you, you're in shock, we'll fix that for you."

Heidi wrapped her arms around Stephanie's neck and said, "Thank you, Stephanie, for saving me."

"It's not hassle," Stephanie said carrying Heidi out the ruined shop, "Now come on, people are going to be attracted by the mess."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Got you….." A singsong voice chimed softly, watching Stephanie carry Heidi out of the village, "Mmm…the scent of pure magic, delicious."

Soft dove grey eyes hardened as they watched the duo melt into the forest. A long thin tongue slowly slid out from between a pair of pale lips and licked them, as if it could taste the magic.

High above the small village, on top of the church, a figure stood, arms crossed and white hair blowing in the gentle breeze. The person's mouth twisted into a feral smile and then they were jumping, disappearing in mid-air and reappearing in the forest, landing without making a sound. They watched as Stephanie carried their prize and then watched, with narrowed eyes as both Stephanie and the prize melt into nothingness.

Walking up to where the two disappeared, the person hissed as they felt something lap at their hand, burning the skin off it.

"A strong protection, I see…." They murmured, watching the skin on their hand mend itself, "Oh, what's this? A tear in the protection? My dear Toga…I'll be making a house call soon…"

The person's eyes wavered on the tear that waved in the breeze, revealing a black gate and some rose bushes.

"All that magic…just waiting for me…." The person purred, before turning on their heels and walking away, "See you soon, my dear prize."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie let out a sigh, closing the door to the mansion, shuffling Heidi in her arms, mindful of not waking the now sleeping girl up, and made her way out the foyer. She made her way up the stairs of the mansion and went to her rooms. She paused and frowned, seeing that her door was closed. Fuck, she sure as hell didn't close her door, she had nothing to hid and if she did, it was well hidden.

Stephanie squared her shoulders and made a sound, causing Heidi to mumble in her sleep. She didn't want to open the door, because she knew what that meant.

"Open the door, Stephanie," Toga's voice drifted from behind it, "Like any good Guardian, you must accept whatever fate lies behind the door that's in front of you."

Stephanie closed her eyes and opened the door, saying in a soft voice, "Toga…"

"Put Heidi down on the bed and follow me," Was all Toga said from his spot near Stephanie's window.

Stephanie nodded her head and placed Heidi on the bed, gently, running her hand over the girl's head. She sat up and watched as Toga walked out the room and then followed him out the door. Stephanie closed the door to her room and slowly walked behind Toga to accept her punishment.

TBC….

* * *

Oh dear, things are happening soon...stay tuned, folks!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4! Enjoy!

Warning: Nothing really, just some dead animals...

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Enjoy! Please review...please? owo

* * *

_Guardian_

_Chapter 4_

_Debts_

Carlos Manoso was a warrior, it wasn't an opinion, it was a fact. He spent most of his life training to become a warrior and using his warrior skills to seek out and destroy those who put the world in danger or when clients paid him enough. His life as a warrior began at the tender age of 13. He had grown up in Newark, New Jersey, in a spot dubbed 'Little Cuba.' He had been a wild child, getting in trouble and hanging out with the wrong groups. He had, at one time, joined a the gang, he had robbed corner stores, stolen cars, broke into homes and he did so without remorse. He had money all the things he could desire and his buddies to back him up.

Or so he had thought.

One night, Carlos and his gang decided that they were going to hit up a video store, get all the money and videos they could ever need. It was supposed to be an easy robbery. The problem was the owner had a gun and the moment the group tried to hold him up, he shot at them. They had scattered like roaches and took off, with the owner following them. Carlos hadn't been the lucky one and had gotten shot in the back and was left to die, his 'buddies' abandoning him. The gunshot wound had been fatal, it should have killed him. The bullet had punctured vital organs and lodged in his heart. He survived it and at the same was given a second chance on life.

He could clearly remember lying in a puddle of stagnate water, in a back alley, his blood staining the already dirtied water a copper color. He had spent time wondering what his parents reactions would be, once they found out that their eldest son was dead, due to gang related activities. His mother would be sad and miss him but his father would be ashamed and mumble something about how Carlos fell through the cracks of his fingers and he couldn't be helped.

As Death came to wrap his arms around Carlos, he had been saved, by some shady man who lectured him just before Carlos bled out.

"You will change your ways, Ricardo Carlos Manoso," The man said, looking down at the dying boy, "Your life is suited to something better than being in gangs and stealing petty cash, swear your life to me boy, and I'll see to it that your gifts will be used in better ways."

Carlos had merely nodded his head and then here had been a bright white light and then he woke up, in his bedroom, in his bed, injury free and the man's voice in the back of his mind. Carlos had thought the night before a dream. He was given a rude awakening when he went downstairs to find his parents sitting at the dining room table, with a man sitting across from them. The moment Carlos saw the man, he knew, instantly that this was the man who saved him the night before, he knew, that last night hadn't been a nightmare, he had almost lost his life.

"You will come with me, Carlos," The man said, standing up and sweeping his arm to Carlos's parents, "You will come with me and train, you will see your family again when your debt with me has been paid."

The man hadn't let Carlos take anything with him, stating that his life would no longer revolve around useless items. The man though had let Carlos say goodbye to his parents and then led him away and into a life that would be hardened by extreme training and combat.

Carlos could consider himself a cold blooded killer. He killed without remorse, but he only killed those he had targeted, the others were allowed to live. He had killed thousands of people, diplomats, kings, businessmen anyone whom he had to kill. He preferred missions like that, when it was just him and himself.

He loved his solitude.

"Are you done watching paint dry, cause I'm fucking starving!" A voice boomed, stirring Carlos from his thoughts, "Hello, earth to Carlos….!"

Carlos let out a rush of air and turned, in his office chair to look at the intruder that had made their way into his domain, his sanctuary. Standing in front of his massive black desk was a boy, a scruffy looking boy wear a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt and a blue and red flannel shirt. The boy was tall and filled out some, with tousled blond hair and dark green eyes. He couldn't have been more than 15 or 16 with the male teenage attitude to boot.

The boy put a hand on his hip and cocked it saying, "Can you be an old fart later, like, when I'm not fucking starving?! Shit, I'm starving I'll go out and kill a squirrel, I'm that hungry."

"Thaddeus, you should have eaten during lunch," Carlos said, watching the boy, Thaddeus pace around the office, "It was a good-"

"Rabbit food!" Thaddeus, the boy, hissed, his eyes dark, "Look, Carlos, I'm in need of protein, iron and red meat, you can't deprive me of that, I'll waste away on rabbit food!"

Carlos closed his eyes and turned his office chair saying, in a low voice, "I'm a mercenary, not a baby-sitter…"

"I heard that!" Thaddeus said, kicking Carlos's desk, "And I told you, it's Diesel not Thaddeus, who in the fuck let that crazy blond woman name me?!"

Thaddeus 'Diesel' was Carlos's current mission. In his career field, he worked with some…interesting characters. Hell, he would consider himself one of those interesting characters. Diesel, however took the cake. Diesel was or had been considered a literal wild. He had been found, by some people, in the Siberian woods, in a cave he had apparently made his home at. Instead of being taken to an orphanage, he had been given to the people that Carlos was still in debt to, due to the fact that Diesel was a full blooded demon. That one had shocked Carlos, though he hadn't shown it, since he was a mercenary, after all.

Demons were thought to be extinct for several centuries, after some illness swept through the population. There were the occasional halfblooded and quarter blooded demons, but full blooded demons were unheard of. The last one that had been alive and recorded had been in the year 1545. Diesel must have survived the demonic plague and had been surviving on his own in the wilds. With there being nearly 500 years between the last known living demon, they really didn't know how to handle him, and what was even worse was that the child was as feral as a tiger. He mauled several people at the Agency, trying to escape the hospital room they placed him in. To make sure that he wouldn't escape, they kept him sedated and tied to the bed until they found a solution to his feralness.

Carlos had been at the wrong place at the wrong time, in his opinion. Diesel had escaped from his room, again, and was causing havoc in the medical ward. Carlos had just turned the corner and wound up with an armful of Diesel, who snarled and tried to maul him with his sharp incisors and claws. Carlos, who was considered the strongest in the Agency, had tackled him to the floor and pressed all his weight on the boy, his sharp chocolate brown eyes looking straight into the boy's wild green eyes. The medical staff had tried to collect the boy, but Carlos, without looking away from the boy, snapped at them to not touch them. Diesel had fought and struggle, snarling and hissing but, after a while, he grew still, and turned his head away from Carlos, a universal sign of submission and defeat. After the boy went still, Carlos had gotten up and made to leave but found that the boy acted up when Carlos wasn't close to him.

That's how Carlos got this nurse maid mission, he had won the dominance match that he had unknowingly had with Diesel. He was now Diesel's Alpha and if he left the boy now, it would make him even worse than his feral self. Well, at least the kid was smart, he picked up talking and other daily tasks with ease and his studies were going fine as well.

Carlos turned his head, hearing Diesel mumble loudly to himself. The boy had stopped pacing and was making his way to the window, opening it and jumping on the ledge. Carlos felt his eyebrow raise and then he asked, "Where are you going, Thaddeus?"

"Gonna kill a deer and eat it," Diesel said causally, crouching down to jump, "Smell ya later, Carlos, I need some raw meat!"

"Get off that ledge and come here," Carlos said, in a low voice, that had Diesel stiffening, "Now."

"Damn it…" Diesel mumbled, slinking off the window ledge and shuffling over to Carlos. The need to obey his Alpha was strong, "What?"

"You and I are going to go to the woods, where you can hunt, I can tell you need to let some steam off and eat some raw meat," Carlos said standing up, "And then, we're going to come back here, and you're going to work on some homework, I've been told to enroll you in a school so you can get some proper social interaction, but you need to know the basics before I even let you out of my sight."

Diesel perked up at the idea of spending a few hours out in the woods, but that school stuff kind of curbed his happiness, "You don't need to worry about me, old fart, I can handle myself! You're not going to stick me in a stupid city school right, I'd like one near some woods, so I can go out and hunt!"

"I don't think so," Was all Carlos said, leading Diesel out his office.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"It must suck for Diesel, Carlos man," Lester Santos said, from perch above Carlos, "I mean…living in the woods all his life and then being placed in civilization, talk about culture shock."

Carlos didn't make a sound, and instead watched Diesel chase after the unlucky animal that got caught in his path; a small chipmunk.

"Don't you have work that you should be doing, Stantos?" Carlos asked his cousin, his eyes never leaving Diesel's form, "I'm not paying you to play hooky."

"I should say the same thing to you, you own Rangeman!" Lester said, looking down from the tree he sat in, "I mean…I'm just a lowly grunt…"

Rangeman was Carlos's cover job and he made sure that it was successful. Working at the Agency was not only a life changer, it was also a very lucrative job. By the time his first year at the Agency was up, he had enough money to live several lifetimes. He took what he made and invested it in the lucrative security business, opening up a security firm called Rangeman. He had first set up shop in Miami and when that got popular, opened up several other sites. He had one in Atlanta, Boston and now he had one in Trenton, New Jersey. It was the place he was at now, and it would be the place he would watch over Diesel, until the Agency told him different. It was close to his parents, who were still in Newark. He would visit them, but he was forbidden to see them, until his debt was paid. He couldn't even make contact with them, until said debt was paid off. He would send them money and gifts, though, via Lester, to make up for the shit he gave them as a child. Sometimes, he wondered how they were fairing…

"GOTCHA!" Diesel said, grabbing the chipmunk and holding it up to his face, "You little shit, you'll make a nice appetizer before the main-YE-OUCH!"

Lester let out a boom of laughter, watching as Diesel flailed around the grassy area, with a chipmunk latched on his nose with no signs of letting go of it. Carlos crossed his arms and said, "Thaddeus, it seems you're done with hunting, are ready to go back to Rangeman?"

"No!" Diesel snapped, as the chipmunk let go of his nose, "I ain't ready to go back man, only 45 more minutes! I haven't caught my dinner!"

"He's an interesting kid," Lester said, leaning back on the tree, "I like him, I think you're too hard on the boy, training him six hours a day, six hours of school work, he's a kid, not a robot, go easier on him."

"He needs to be trained, Santos," Carlos said, his eyes following Diesel's form through the tall grass, "This is the most efficient way to train him, he has boundless energy and it's best I teach him the proper way to use it, instead of letting it explode."

"True," Lester said, jumping down from the tree, "I wonder though, how long he was out in the woods in Russia, it must have been a long time, his social skills are shit."

"Don't worry about that," Carlos said, watching Diesel trot back to them, with a deer carcass slung over his shoulder, "He'll learn with time what's right and what's wrong."

"And this right here is so wrong on so many levels," Lester said, watching Diesel toss the deer on the ground, "You're going to eat that now?"

"Hell yeah," Diesel said, settling down in the grass and, with his mouth, began to strip the deer of fur and skin, "It's best when it's freshly killed, the flesh is still warm!"

Lester paled and stuck his tongue out, watching Diesel bury his face in the animal's soft belly, "You have your hands full, Carlos my cousin."

"Don't I know it," Carlos said, side stepping so that the deer organ Diesel threw at him struck the tree, "Diesel, don't play with your food."

"Get bent," Diesel said, snapping bones in half and sucking on the marrow, his face covered in blood, "I'm eating."

"Yup, working with a lot there, cousin," Lester chuckled, walking away from the two, "I'm heading back to the SUV, see you there."

"We'll be there soon," Carlos said, turning to Diesel, "Eat faster Thaddeus, we have history to work on tonight."

"Fuck, I hate that shit," Diesel sneered, his mouth full of meat, but shrunk at the look Carlos gave him, "Okay, okay, I'll eat faster!"

"Good," Carlos said, resisting the urge to rub his brow. This was going to be his biggest mission yet.

TBC….

* * *

So we've met Carlos the Warrior and Diesel the Wild Child...see you in the next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5! Enjoy!

Warning: Violence that's it.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Please review? owo

* * *

_Guardian _

_Chapter 5_

_Missing_

**May 19th 20xx**

**Location Unknown**

**Present Time**

Stephanie hadn't expected for her punishment to be this severe. She hadn't expected it to bring her to knees and fight to keep her control. She hadn't expected it to be so…god damn personal. She hadn't expected this punishment at all.

"Some punishments aren't meant to be tangible," Toga had told her afterwards, as she threw up the last few years worth of food she had eaten, "Some punishments are severe enough to not warrant any physical contact."

Stephanie had shook her head and then said, in a rough voice, "I would have rather taken a beaten from you, than what you did to me, Toga."

"No, you needed the shock, Stephanie," Toga told her, in a deadly low voice, "You needed to see what could happen to you, to me…to Heidi. Don't you ever, _ever_ let her leave the mansion again. You need to remember now, you're her Guardian now, not her friend."

Toga had left her in the bathroom, leaving her to stew in her thoughts and for her to remember what she went through. The headache that had been brewing in her head bubbled over and Stephanie doubled over in pain, rubbing her head in agony.

"It wasn't real," Stephanie whispered to herself, closing her eyes, "It wasn't real…it wasn't real…."

"Stephanie?" Heidi's voice drifted into the bathroom, making Stephanie look up and, with blurry vision, saw Heidi standing close to her crumpled form, "Stephanie, you're in pain!"

Stephanie felt warm fingertips on her forehead and then a pleasant warmth filled her head and the headache, that was beating her brain up, melted away. She blinked her eyes and looked then found herself with an armful of Heidi.

"It's all my fault, Stephanie," Heidi said, hugging her friend tightly, "It's all my fault you got in trouble, I told Toga that it was all my idea, but…he didn't care, I'll never ask to go back out again, we can stay here for all of eternity, if it means that you don't get hurt again."

Stephanie wrapped her arms around Heidi, and buried her face in the girl's hair, "Don't worry, it's alright, Heidi, it didn't hurt at all, it was just the aftermath that hurt."

"I'll be good, I promise," Heidi murmured, lifting her head up and looking into Stephanie's eyes, "You won't get grey hairs because of me…"

"Thank you, that's all I can ask for," Stephanie chuckled, hugging Heidi again.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Find our grandchild and bring her home…."

That's was what Edna Mazur's husband asked from her, just moments before he died. Edna Mazur would do just that, she would find her grandbaby and bring her home. 20 years…Edna couldn't believe it, it's been 20 years since that night she got the phone call from the Maryland State Police. In one minute, Edna's world came crashing down around her. Her Daughter, son in law and one of her grandchildren had been killed in a car accident. She and her husband had promptly dropped everything and went to Maryland. It had been a major heartache when she had to identify the bodies of her family.

It had taken Edna a moment to realize that one of her grandbabies, hadn't been there. Stephanie hadn't been in the coroners and the police hadn't found another child's body at the scene of the accident. Edna had called the people that lived next door to her daughter and asked them if they could check on the house and see if Stephanie was maybe there. They had told her that Stephanie had gotten in the car to go to Florida, they had seen her and they had waved goodbye to the excited child. That had to mean that maybe, Stephanie was alive still, maybe she was around in the surrounding woods, lost and maybe injured.

With this new information, search parties went out and the whole state of Maryland was on the lookout for six year old Stephanie Plum. The search parties went on for months, and by then had spread across the whole nation. Edna herself had been on national news outlets, begging for anyone to find the only grandchild she had left. The years went by and by then the story got old, interest waned and soon, only Edna remembered that her Stephanie was out there, waiting for her grandmother to come and get her.

"I'll find her, Harry," Edna said, running a hand over the only picture of Stephanie she had, "I'll find her and bring her home. She needs to know that Grandma Mazur is still searching for her, and she won't stop looking."

Edna let out a weak sob and held the picture tightly to her chest. Her Harry was gone now, and now it was only her and her memories. It would be harder to find Stephanie now, she had Harry to lean on, but now, she didn't have anyone. It would be harder, but she would find her grandchild, even if it killed her.

Edna placed the picture down on the table and got up from her seat to make a cup of tea, but a round of knocks on the door had her moving to the front door of the house and opening it with a polite, "Yes?"

Standing before her was a young woman, with soft dove grey eyes and white hair that ran down her back in a braid. She was pale, almost white and had thin pale lips, which were curved in a smile. She was dressed in a suit that was black with a red tie and she wore a pair of dress shoes. The woman's smile widened and she bowed low saying, in a soft voice, "How do you do, madam, I'm here because you called for me."

"I don't think I called for anyone today," Edna said placing the door between her and the woman, "You must be mistaken."

"Oh…I'm not, you're looking for something, for someone," The woman said, tucking a hand into her pocket, "And I may be able to help you. You see, I am a person who specializes in these types of things, missing persons…you are looking for a girl, yes? Let me guess…your grandchild."

Edna's eyes widened and she slowly moved away from the door, saying, "Please, do come in…."

"To find your missing grandchild, I'll need something personal that she owned," The woman said, walking into the house and looking around, "A doll…toys, books, anything…."

"I packed up some of things, before I sold the house and the like, it's in a box, in the attic, I'll go and get it," Edna said, earning a head shake from the woman.

"Nonsense, don't stress yourself," The woman said, holding her hands out and seconds later the box with Stephanie's things was firmly in her hands, "I'll get it for you."

"How did you-" Edna started but the woman shook her head and said, "Secrets….."

Edna watched the woman place the box down on the ground and open it, shuffling through the precious items that Edna kept. She paused in her search and smiled, pulling out a gold locket and opening the heart shaped jewel. The woman let out a small laugh and pulled out a lock of curly brown hair, saying, "This is your grandchild's hair, is it not?"

"Yes, I…you need that?" Edna asked, watching the woman pocket the locket and the hair.

"Yes, but I promise you, madam, that your grandchild will be found," The woman said, bowing low and walking to the front door, "Thank you for the items they will come in handy, but now, you're feeling a bit tired, maybe you should take a nap and forget all about this visit."

Suddenly, Edna's body became weak, her eyes heavy with sleep. She let out a weak moan and fell to the ground, fast asleep. The woman smiled and seemed to fade away into nothingness. When Edna awoke, she would find herself on the floor, beside Stephanie's box, wondering how it got downstairs and why she was on the floor.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**June 11 20xx**

**Location Unknown**

**Present Time**

"So the hole is fixed?" Heidi asked Stephanie, watching her plop down on the grass, wiping sweat off her brow, "No more escaping?"

Stephanie nodded her head and lay back on the grass, all her energy gone. She hadn't told Toga about the hole, she wanted to show the man that she was a responsible Guardian. She had learn how to patch protection spells from a book. With the knowledge that she got, she used her blood and some bone to not only patch up the protection but it tied her to the protection as well, so she could feel when danger was around.

"Will you tell me what happened to you during your punishment?" Heidi said, crawling over to Stephanie and laying on top of her, "You were silent for days! Why? What happened to you?"

"Nothing, Heidi," Stephanie said sitting up and wrapping her arms around Heidi and standing them both up, "Come on, I'll go make us some dinner, since Toga went out, how does pasta sound?"

"Good!" Heidi said, grabbing Stephanie's hand and dragging her to the house, "I want scampi!"

"Okay, whatever the princess wants, the princess gets," Stephanie said, trotting beside Heidi, her heart heavy and her mind like a spinning vortex of turmoil.

The punishment that she didn't want to talk about, it had been a couple of weeks, but she would still wake up in cold sweats and screams caught in her throat. Those dreams were so vivid that she had taken to sitting near Heidi's bed at night, just to make sure she was safe. She didn't want to think about the punishment, she didn't want to remember.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**May 19th 20xx**

**Location Unknown**

**Flashback  
**

The moment Toga led her into the Guardian room, she half expected for the man to turn around and punch her. Toga wasn't a man of violence; he had only slapped her once or twice, during missions, when she let her emotions get the best of her.

Toga turned to Stephanie and said, in a soft voice, "Come with me, Stephanie and face the punishment suitable for your crime."

Stephanie followed Toga past the ceremony ring and through a door that entered into a long black hallway that lit with only a few wall mounted lights. At the end of the hallway stood a double door that was made of heavy metal and had words on that derived from an alien language. Toga turned to Stephanie and said, in a low voice, "It a phrase from our race; '_Those who enter this room will bare their souls.'_ Yes, this is a suitable punishment for you."

Stephanie watched as Toga pulled opened one of the doors to reveal nothing but darkness. He turned to Stephanie and said, "Enter, you'll only be in here for one minute, any longer and you might lose your sanity."

Stephanie gave Toga a look, but squared her shoulders up and entered the room, being swallowed by the darkness. She heard the door shut with a loud bang and found herself in darkness. It was suffocating and deafening at the same time. The only thing she could hear was the pounding of her heart and the rise and fall of her breathing. Stephanie closed her eyes and whispered, "Only one minute, you can do this Stephanie."

"STEPHANIE!" Stephanie turned her body and, to her surprise found that she wasn't in the darkness anymore, she was standing in the middle of some road, with the rain pouring down on her. Several feet away from her was a burning car, with the flames going high up into the sky. Stephanie noticed by the flaming car, a figure, hunched over another figure, screaming and crying for them to wake up. Stephanie ran over to the figures, slipping and sliding in the rain until she stopped suddenly, her eyes widening in recognition. She knew this scene, she knew this event. 20 years ago, this was her, in the rain, screaming and sobbing over her father's body. Though this was different, it wasn't Stephanie who was screaming and crying.

It was Heidi and she was screaming and crying for Stephanie.

Stephanie let out a choked whimpered and walked over to Heidi saying, "Heidi! I'm here Heidi…please, stop crying I'm-"

"Stephanie! Please wake up!" Heidi sobbed, hugging a still body to her chest, "Please wake up…please!"

Stephanie took a step back seeing that it was her, instead of father who lay out on the ground. Stephanie shook her head saying, "No…I have to protect Heidi, I can't be dead, I need to protect..."

"YOU!" Heidi shrieked, turning in the rain at Stephanie, who took a step back, "You killed Stephanie! You killed my Stephanie, I told you…I would have come to you willingly if you let Stephanie live!"

She wasn't talking to her, Stephanie found out. Stephanie turned to the spot that Heidi was yelling at and found herself looking at the figure in the rain, who stood deadly still. Stephanie shook her head, no, Heidi, don't talk to them, the danger…it was too dangerous for you to talk to them Heidi…stop!

"Heidi no!" Stephanie cried out, reaching out to grab the girl, only to watch with horror, as her fingers went through her, "Don't face them Heidi! Run Heidi! Hide!"

Heidi let go of Stephanie's body and grabbed the ebony sword that lay beside Stephanie's still frame. She unsheathed the blade and stood up, turning to the figure in the rain. Her small framed shivered from the cold and from fear, but she wouldn't back down, she wouldn't let Stephanie die in vain.

"I'll kill you…." Heidi said softly before screaming, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"HEIDI!" Stephanie screamed, watching the girl charge at the figure and swinging the sword at the figure.

Stephanie let out another scream as the figure struck Heidi, they had moved so fast, Stephanie almost didn't see them move. Heidi didn't even have time to scream before a blade, deadlier than the one in her hands swung out and pierce her chest, going right through her body. Stephanie ran over to the two and faltered as the figure chuckled darkly and whisper, "Such a fool, such a pretty empty headed fool…." Before wrenching the sword up, slicing the upper part of Heidi's body in half.

"NOOOO!" Stephanie screamed, falling to her knees and shaking her head, "Heidi!"

And then…the rain stopped, the scenery around Stephanie changed and she was back in the darkness, face down in the thick darkness, tears pouring down her face and Heidi's name on her lips. Toga had to go in and get her, she had been too shaken up to even move.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie wouldn't let that happen to Heidi, she would protect her, she had to protect her, if only for her own sanity.

"Look at that sunset, Stephanie," Heidi said, turning to her friend, "It's so pretty, I wish sunsets were like this one every day, then we could sit and watch them while we ate."

"Oh, maybe you should make it happen," Stephanie said, turning to Heidi, who frowned and shook her head, tucking her hands in her dress pockets, "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I know you were joking," Heidi said softly, looking up at her friend, "But…I could if I wanted to, I can make anything happen…which is why there are bad people after me…cause I'm something special, right?"

"Heidi, I swear to you," Stephanie said, getting on her knees and grabbing Heidi by her thin shoulders, "No one is going to come after you, okay? I'm here and so is Toga, and in this place you're safer than safe, now, let's not worry about that, okay? I'll protect you, I promise you…."

"I know you will," Heidi said, hugging Stephanie, "That's why I love you so much, Stephanie, cause you're the bestest friend ever."

"I know, now, let's go eat some dinner!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**July 12 20xx**

**Location Unknown**

**Present Time**

Grey eyes danced with glee, as they took in the scene before them, they were at the edge of the protection that hid the mansion from prying eyes and those who wanted to take what lay inside it. The person with the grey eyes turned to the group of figures behind them and said, "This is the night, on this beautiful new moon, the darkest night of the month, we will get revenge on Sir Toga and his kind and we will see to it that the prize he has tucked away will be solely in our hands tonight!"

There was a roar of agreement and the heavy pounding of weapons to the ground had the person shivering with delight. They held up a small golden locket, which had an strange red hue to it and causally tossed it at the protection. The person had known that the woman that protected her prize had tied herself to the protection, so they had taken an item tied to her and poisoned it with something potent. It would eat away at the protection and reveal to them the prize inside.

The person took a step back, watching as red hued cracks began to form in midair, growing bigger and bigger, as if it were eating away at something. There were loud sizzling sounds and loud cracks, but surely the mansion, hidden from the world began to reveal itself. The person sneered and said, "It's taking it's sweet time," taking out a lock of curly hair that was now black with something deadly, "This will break it all down in one go!"

The person threw the lock of hair at the decaying protection and watched as the rest of it shattered like glass and revealed the whole manor to them. The person turned to the group of figures and boomed, "Attack! Kill anyone who stands in your way! Bring me what I desire, alive!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie jerked awake with a scream of agony, clutching at her heart, her blue eyes wide with horror

"Oh no…" Stephanie whimpered, stumbling out of bed, and over to the window, "Oh no!"

Stephanie turned on her feet and ran out her room, her sword in her hand and her heart pumping with fear. She made it to Heidi's room, in record time and shouted, opening the door, "Heidi! Get up! We must leave, the mansion is being attacked!"

TBC….

* * *

CLIFFHANGER! ]8U Stay tune! Please leave your thoughts in a review! ;D


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6!

Warning: Violence

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Enjoy and please review, sorry about the erratic times when I post a new chapter, but I'm 13 hours ahead of my home time!

* * *

_Guardian _

_Chapter 6_

_Flight_

**Date: July 13th 20xx**

**Location: Trenton, New Jersey**

**Present Time**

"Get up," Carlos said, shaking Diesel awake, "We need to go somewhere, now."

Diesel let out a grumble and turned, opening one eye and looking up at Carlos, "I just went to bed, can't you torture me later?"

"This isn't a joke, Thaddeus, this is a real situation, it appears that one of our allies has been attacked, and we're to go over to see if there were any survivors."

"Why us?" Diesel asked, but nonetheless, got out of the bed and walked into his closet to get his clothes on, "Can't they find some other stool pigeons?"

"I'm the strongest stool pigeon, and you're my charge, so come on," Carlos said, just as Diesel tossed his boots on, "What happened to the shoes I bought you?"

"Tossed them out, too tight for my feet, who in the fuck wears dress shoes every day?" Diesel said, tossing his flannel shirt on, "Can we go now, maybe I can sleep when we're on the way to…"

"Austria," Carlos said, leading Diesel out his room and over to the front door, "It's a 12 hour flight, sleep as much as you can, once we land we're doing serious work."

"Fuck…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**July 12th 20xx**

**Location Unknown**

**Present Day**

"Hurry!" Stephanie said, grabbing Heidi by her hand and racing down the stairs, "Not the front door, not the back door, we have to escape!"

Stephanie cursed loudly hearing glass shatter and doors were being smashed down. She could feel Heidi's fear in the hand she held. The girl was trying to be brave, Stephanie knew that it was all a cover up.

"Stephanie…." Heidi asked softly, as Stephanie lead her down the hallway, "Where's Toga? Why hasn't he come back yet?"

"I don't know, but don't worry, Heidi," Stephanie said leading Heidi into a room, "Don't worry, I have you, I'll protect you."

"I don't want you to die," Heidi said, watching Stephanie run around the room, grabbing a bag and wrenching open a side panel in the room and quickly opened the safe that was hidden in it, "what are you doing?"

"We can't stay here," Stephanie said, stuffing items in the bag, "But we can't escape with nothing, take this bag and hold on to it."

Heidi took the bag Stephanie gave her and ran over to the woman just as the door busted open and some kind of creature came charging in. Stephanie slipped Heidi behind her, unsheathed her sword and swung forward, the blade cleaning slicing the creatures head off.

"Werewolf," Stephanie said softly, grabbing Heidi's hand, "Come on, let's go!"

"Stephanie!" Heidi screamed as the mansion rocked from something hitting it, "Stephanie! I'm scared!"

The smell of smoke filled the hallway they were in and the sounds of howls and growls filled the house. Stephanie pulled Heidi tight to her, but gave her the sheath of her sword saying, "Use this, Heidi, if someone tries to attack you, hit them as hard as you can, there are runes on it that will cause serious damage."

"Okay," Heidi said as Stephanie looked around and opened a secret door that led into a small space, "Stephanie?! What are you doing?"

"Hide here," Stephanie said softly, ignoring the girl's pleas, "Stay here, please, don't make any noises and remember, use the sheath."

"Stephanie NO-" Heidi shrieked as Stephanie closed the door shut and then pushed a side table against it.

Stephanie raced down the hall and away from Heidi's hiding spot, to prevent those who were invading the mansion from finding Heidi. She could hear them, trashing rooms and looking for anything. Stephanie lifted her sword up and silently crept up the hallway. She looked into an opened room and found two creatures, a werewolf and something else. They were looking for something, Heidi, most likely, but Stephanie would strike them down. Stephanie slid into the room, swung her blade and struck the non-werewolf first. The creature went down without a fight and then Stephanie swung again slicing the werewolf in half. Stephanie quickly ran out of the room and raced down the hallway killing anyone who got in the way. She hoped to god that Toga would be back soon, she doubt that she could take down the person leading these beasts.

Stephanie ran into the foyer, her sword coated in blood and her arms splattered with it. She didn't know if she had killed every single one of those monsters, she doubted it because she was hadn't met the ring leader in charge of the-

Stephanie turned on her heels, quickly and jumped out the way, just as something sharp whizzed buy, cutting her on the side of the face. Stephanie looked up at the top of the stairs and narrowed her eyes, spitting out, "You..."

"Oh….yes it's me…." A singsong voice stated, ending with a giggle, "Why…you don't look happy to see me, and here I thought we were the best of friends…."

Stephanie felt herself grind her teeth as she took in the person standing on the stairs. It was a short woman, who was so pale she was white. She had grey eyes, long white hair and dressed in a suit that was black. She gave Stephanie a feral smile and bowed low. Stephanie didn't even flinch as something in the other room exploded, sending smoke out into the foyer.

"How did you get past the protection?" Stephanie asked, watching the woman walk down the stairs, "They were enforced to keep you out."

"Hmm…I saw that you tied your blood and bone to the protection to fix that itty bitty hole in the protection," The woman said, stopping halfway down the stairs, "And so…I visited someone from your past life to get something to create a poison fit to shatter the protection. She was such a lovely woman, your grandmother was."

Stephanie's eyes widened and she whispered, "Grandmother? I…"

The woman laughed out loud as something exploded in the back of the house, "Oh…she's still alive, though I doubt Toga would tell you that, you would have wanted to go home…."

"I would have stayed, you bitch," Stephanie snarled, raising her sword up, "If it means finding the one who killed my family I-"

"Oh, 20 years ago?" The woman said looking down at her nails, "Oh yes…that dinky little car, I remember like it was yesterday, I was ever so angry about something and well, I wanted to take it out on something…someone, and I was just in the neighborhood and well, you know, my hand slipped…it's a shame that you weren't killed in the fire too, I made it hot enough for it to mel-"

"BITCH!" Stephanie snarled, charging at the woman, who smirked and let Stephanie charge at her, "I'll fucking kill you!"

Stephanie swung her sword in the air and brought it down on the woman who dodged the blade and then, swiftly punched Stephanie in the stomach, causing Stephanie to cry out in agony, feeling her organs groan from the pressure of the punch. The woman leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "I thought you were my best friend….I should have known, you silly human..."

Stephanie let out a cry as the woman kicked Stephanie in the chest, sending her flying into a wall, which bowed under the pressure and caved in around Stephanie, sending her into a sitting room. Stephanie turned her side and spat out blood, reaching for her sword only to cry out in pain as a foot came down swiftly, shattering her wrist into uselessness. She grunted as the woman lifted her up and say to her, "Hmm…maybe you're not so human afterall…Toga might not have kept you 100 percent human, you'd be useless to him, I wonder if you'll still die if I stick my hand in your chest and pull out your heart. I guess there's only one way to find out, now this won't hurt-"

"LET GO OF STEPHANIE!" A voice shrieked before something long and black struck the woman, sending her flying away from Stephanie.

"Heidi! Damn it," Stephanie hissed, getting up to her knees, "I told you to stay back!"

"She was going to kill you!" Heidi said, getting down and touching Stephanie's broken wrist, "Stay still…."

Stephanie felt the warmth of Heidi's fingers and then she felt her bones shift back and heal. Which was a good thing because the woman was getting up, laughing darkly. Stephanie noticed that her eyes were only on Heidi, those grey eyes had darkened into a black. She licked her lips and cooed, "Such power…such delicious power, now, come here and be a good girl and let me have it."

"Never!" Heidi snapped, just as Stephanie shuffled her behind her back, "You tried to kill Stephanie!"

It was like watching a cat with catnip, the woman in front of Stephanie seemed to be drunk on Heidi, only wanting more. She was walking closer to them, her teeth sharpening and the nails on her fingers lengthening. The woman giggled and said, in a low voice, "Come now, sweetie, you don't know how important you are to me…to our kind, only I can make sure you're put to good use."

Stephanie held the blade out in front of her hissing, "Stay back, bitch, don't you touch her!"

"Filthy human! How dare you even-"

"Hmm, I knew I smelt something foul," Toga said, appearing in front of Stephanie and Heidi, his green eyes dark with fury, "I leave for a few days and you let the trash in, Stephanie."

"Not by choice," Stephanie said, holding Heidi's hand tightly.

"Toga!" The woman hissed her eyes shifting back to grey, "I thought you were tied up."

"Oh yes, your little minions, I've handle them quite well, I'm glad I came back early, you broke some very powerful and ancient protections," Toga said, watching the woman giggle and shift back to her normal form, "So, tell me, my dear Gwen, what can I do for you?"

Gwen, the woman laughed out loud and said, "As if you have to ask, Toga…you know what I'm here for."

"Stephanie, take Heidi and leave, now, I'll come find you," Toga said, never taking his eyes off of Gwen, "Go far away."

"Toga…" Stephanie said, earning a sharp look from the man.

"Go! You are her Guardian, now act like it!" Toga snapped, making Stephanie nod her head softly, "I'll find you two, where ever you are."

"Toga?" Heidi whispered, her eyes filling with tears, "What are you saying?"

Toga smiled at Heidi and said, pulling his own sword out, "Be good for Stephanie, I will find you two soon."

Stephanie grabbed and sheathed her sword, tucked it to her side and then grabbed Heidi's hand, leading her away from Toga and Gwen. Stephanie led Heidi back down the hall and over to the secret room, where she picked up the bag she had given to Heidi. She turned to Heidi and said, "Come on, Brat, we're leaving."

"Kay," Heidi said, latching on to Stephanie, who placed her on her back. Stephanie ran all the way down to the end of the hall and abruptly took a right, running through the false wall and into a narrow hallway that led to a flight of stairs going down. She climbed down the stairs and ran down a dark narrow hallway until she and Heidi were outside, exiting from a secret are close to the gardens that lay behind the mansion, which was currently being consumed by fire. With the protection around the mansion gone, Stephanie and Heidi slipped off the property with ease, heading into the woods. When they were a mile away from the mansion, Stephanie stopped to catch her breath.

"You're heavy," Stephanie said, dropping Heidi off her back and turning to the still burning mansion, "We'll walk to the next town over and make our plans there."

Heidi bit her lip and whispered, "What about Toga? He's still back there with that woman!"

"I'm sure Toga will be-" Stephanie started but was cut off by a loud explosion that came from the mansion, "Fine..."

"TO-" Heidi tried to scream, but Stephanie covered her mouth and shook her head saying, "No screaming, there could be bad people out here."

Heidi let out a sob but nodded her head. Stephanie let go of the girl and wrapped her arms around her, letting her sob into her neck. She turned to look at the mansion, which was now engulfed in flames, whispering, "Toga, please come out okay, we need you…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**July 14, 20xx**

**Location Unknown**

**Present Day**

"Oh shit," Diesel hissed, climbing out the car and looking over to Carlos, "Holy shit…it looks like someone dropped a bomb on this place."

Carlos narrowed his eyes and took a step forward. What had once appeared to be a big mansion, was now a blackened out shell, with smoke still rising from the ashes and parts of the frame falling to the ground. Carlos turned to Diesel and said, "Alright kid, stay right here, your favorite friend should be coming soon, so once she's here, lead her over to me."

"Damn, don't tell me it's blondie!" Diesel muttered, leaning against the black Porsche, "I dislike that woman…"

Carlos ignored the boy's rant and went to look through the rubble of the mansion. Nothing had been spared from the apparent fire, but from the look of some of the debris, it seemed that there had also been a very big explosion as well. That idea had Carlos's minding churning. What had occurred here to cause an explosion?

"Get your hands off me, woman! I'm not a doll!"

Carlos didn't have to turn and know who was terrorizing his charge, but he did to see a tall blond woman, dressed in black, cuddling Diesel into her cleavage. If Carlos had been a lesser man he would have chuckled a little. The chuckle did try to work its way out his throat as he watched Diesel motorboat and struggle to get out the woman's grasp at the same time.

"Woman!" Diesel said, once he was free, his face beet red, "I'm a kid, suffocating me with your tits can get you five to life!"

"You are just so adorable!" The woman said, ruffling Diesel's hair, "How have you been behaving, Thaddeus?"

"Who let you name me that ugly name?!" Diesel huffed walking over to Carlos, "Carlos, Jeanne is here…"

"So I see," Carlos said as Jeanne walked over to him, "We're a little late, Jeanne, it looks like the attack had been over for a while now."

Jeanne Ellen Borrows shook her head, looking around the property. She turned green eyes to Carlos and said, "It's fucking weird, Manoso, we've never heard about this ally before until last night, what other secrets are they keeping from us?"

Carlos nodded his head softly and began to walk around the rubble with Jeanne. Jeanne Ellen Borrows was a product of the Agency, just like Carlos, but she had been in it longer than him. Hell, she had been born into it. She was a world class Assassin, mercenary and a stone cold woman. She did have her moments though.

"They're keeping lots of secrets from you two losers," Diesel said spotting something in the rubble and picking it up, "That's how it works, hey look it…a kid must have been living here."

Jeanne and Carlos walked over to Diesel and looked at the item he held. It was the charred remains of a doll. Jeanne sucked in a breath and whispered, "You think that the child may have died in the fire?"

"We haven't found any bodies yet, though we just got here," Carlos said, watching Diesel scurry off, his head jerking around and he was sniffing the air very loudly, "Diesel what is it?"

"I don't know…" Diesel said, crouching on all fours and sniffing at the burned rubble, "But…I smell something!"

Jeanne and Carlos watched the boy crawl around in the charred remains of the mansion, before stopping and suddenly, he began to start clearing away rubble, tossing away bricks, wood and charred furniture. Carlos and Jeanne went over to the boy, and began to help him clear away the remains, tossing it away and going deeper into the ruins until Diesel lifted away a burnt wooden panel and revealed a person underneath it. Diesel froze and leaned down, sniffing the person's head whispering, "No way…"

"What is it, Thaddeus?" Carlos asked, watching the boy sniff the person that they found.

"They smell like me…" Diesel said, looking up with wonder, "Like a demon!"

"That's because…" A weak voice said, making Diesel yelp and jump back, "I am a demon…"

The person laying in the rubble let out a groan and began to get up. The stood up slowly, holding their side and hissing in obvious pain. Carlos and Jeanne took a step back, Carlos grabbing Diesel, who was more interested in sniffing the person. The person was a man, with charred hair and green eyes that were glazed with pain. The man turned to Carlos and Jeanne and said, in a weak voice, "I take it my distress call was answered."

"What happened here?" Jeanne asked, watching the man sit down, breathing heavily, "Don't answer that yet, we'll go and get you medical attention."

"You're a demon," Diesel said, his eyes big with wonder, "I thought I was the last demon in the world…"

"Trust me kid…you're not," the man said, closing his eyes, "Now, be a good youngling and get my sword from the rubble, it's where I was found."

Diesel did what he was told to do while Carlos walked over to the man and asked, "What's your name, demon?"

"Toga," The man said, opening his eyes and looking up at Carlos, "And right now, we're all in a dire situation, it's best if we head back to the Agency and I'll explain it."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**July 14th, 20xx**

**Vienna, Austria**

**Present Day**

"Welcome and Thank you for using Austrian Airlines, how may I serve you?" The smiling woman behind the counter asked, looking at the two people in front of her.

"Two tickets to New York City," Stephanie said, taking out her wallet and pulling out the credit card that rested in it and also two USA Passports, "First class please, on the next flight out."

The woman behind the counter smiled brightly and asked, "Do you have any baggage to check in?"

"No," Stephanie said, as the woman processed the tickets, "Just a carry on."

"Well, here you are, enjoy your time in America and thank you for flying with us!" The woman said, giving Stephanie her tickets, "Enjoy your flight."

Stephanie turned to Heidi, who was hugging herself tightly and looking a bit lost, "Come on kid, we have a plane to catch."

"What's going to happen to us now?" Heidi asked, going over to Stephanie and grabbing her hand, "That bad woman could be out there now, looking for us!"

Stephanie looked at the necklace that Heidi was wearing and said, "You keep that necklace on at all times, and she won't even catch a sniff of you, besides, Toga is strong, he might have taken care of that woman."

"How long are we going to be in America?" Heidi asked as they walked deeper into the airport.

"We'll be there until Toga finds us," Stephanie said, tucking Heidi close to her, "Don't worry kid, I'll watch over you, nothing is going to happen to you."

"I know, you're a strong warrior!" Heidi said, the fear she had was slowly fading and now her curiosity was returning, "Wow, there are more people here than in the village!"

Stephanie slung the back she had over her shoulder and led Heidi to their gate. She knew where they would be hiding out at. At a place she hadn't seen in 20 years. It made her nervous and yet, she was somewhat eager to see her hometown. They would hide out in Trenton New Jersey, until Toga came to them.

Stephanie was going home and she was taking Heidi with her.

TBC…

* * *

Stephanie is returning to Trenton and the plot thickens~ until next time! :3


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 enjoy!

Warning: Mentions of extreme violence

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Please review? o3o

* * *

_Guardian _

_Chapter 7_

_Reunited_

**July 16 20xx**

**Trenton New Jersey**

**Present Day**

It was a surreal moment for Stephanie to drive by the welcome sign of Trenton. Had it really been 20 years since she had even been in this place? It looked almost the same, but changes had occurred. For once, there was one of those mega marts that Toga always complained about and several new fast food chains. Shopping centers had popped up in places where there used to be nothing or where there used to be little mom and pop shops. This wasn't her part of Trenton, she wasn't raised in this area, she had lived in the 'Burg, or Chambersburg. Stephanie could bet money that all of the families that had lived there were still there. It would be nice to see some familiar faces, but Stephanie wouldn't live in the 'Burg. No, it was too normal for her, and she had lived a life that was far from normal. She and Heidi would live on the outskirts of Trenton, where they could live without much drama and maybe Heidi could socialize with children around her age. That would be the best, Stephanie may be Heidi's Guardian but she could also mother the child at the same time. Stephanie had been doing that a lot, lately, mothering Heidi. There had been a strong instinct to protect and nurture the child, but it had gotten worse lately.

Stephanie looked over to the passenger seat of the car and saw that Heidi was fast asleep, curled up in a ball, her head resting on her arms, which were perched on the side of the door. It was well past midnight and Heidi, who was not used to traveling, had fallen asleep on the plane and in the car, severely jet lagged. Stephanie had traveled many a times with Toga and had trained to prevent travel exhaustion. Stephanie wondered what she would do at the moment. She needed to find a place for them to sleep, of course, and then she would hash out a plan. Of course she thought about living arrangements for the both of them, maybe she would find a job to prevent boredom and the like. She would arrange for Heidi to get social interaction and just take time to enjoy being a teenager.

Stephanie pulled off the side of the road and paused in her thoughts. What had the woman said to her, before she had nearly killed Stephanie? Her grandmother…one of her grandparents was still alive! Maybe Stephanie could stay with them for a bit, so she could hash out a plan. It was obvious Toga would be a while to returning to them. It might be months before the man found them.

Stephanie climbed out the car and went into the back seat, taking out the only bag she had. She opened it and took out an ornate dagger, covered in precious jewels. She sliced opened the palm of her hand and with the tip of the dagger, began to trace a rune in the blood. She winced as the blood began to bubble and boil on her hand until it seemed to melt into her skin, forming a pattern on the back of her hand. The blood shifted and formed on the back of her hand until the formed settled and turned black, revealing to Stephanie a compass. The compass on her hand would lead her to the person she wanted to see, which was her grandmother. Stephanie smiled and climbed back In the car, pulling away from the curb and driving down the street. In a matter of minutes, she found herself outside a familiar home. She had been here before, as a young child, she could recall spending time there with her sister, making forts and listening to stories told to them by her grandfather. The vague memories in her head had her heart aching.

Stephanie parked the car in the drive way, got out of it, slinging the bag over her shoulders. She opened the passenger side door and caught Heidi in her arms before she locked the car and made her way up the short sidewalk and to the front door. She knocked once and waited for a moment, before lights popped up on the side windows beside the door and then said door was opened to reveal a grey haired woman with blue eyes. She gave Stephanie a look and then paused, giving her another hard look. Stephanie gave the woman a smile and said, "Grandma Mazur, it's me, Stephanie…"

"Stephanie?" The woman said, earning a head nod, "Stephanie, it can't be you, you've been gone for so….no, yes it is you, those eyes, I remember those eyes so well…"

Stephanie let the woman cup her face and then she was being embraced, the old woman saying, in between soft sobs, "My grandchild is here, my grandbaby is back!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**July 20th 20xx**

**Location Unknown**

**Present Day**

"I wanna know how you're here….alive," Diesel asked, pulling a chair up close to Toga's hospital bed, "I wanna know how there are still some demons around, there are more of us, right?"

Toga looked over to Carlos making Diesel huff and puff out, "Why are you looking at him?!I asked the damn question!"

"You did, but you should have asked your Alpha if you could ask the question," Toga said, watching Diesel groan and pull at his blond hair, "But I think he won't mind, and I'll answer."

Toga laid his head back and said, "But to answer your question, yes, there are a few more demons that are alive and well. We hid in secret, wiping out that we even existed in order to fulfill a debt we had incurred."

"What debt?" Diesel asked, leaning in closer, the urge to sniff the man was strong and Diesel couldn't hold out much longer.

Carlos was curious about the debt too. What had happened to make the demon race collapse to the brink of extinction? Was it the demonic plague that many people believe?

"A long time ago, demons were the dominate race on the planet," Toga said, looking over to Diesel, "We were like gods, able to use magic and we were able to build vast civilizations that were so advanced that they made modern cities look primitive. We were a race seeking knowledge and power and we were always thirsty for both. So, with these aspirations, we stumbled upon a race of creatures that had power coming off them in waves. They were 300 time more powerful than the demons, they were true gods, they could control nature, they could control space and the time itself. They were extremely powerful and yet, their disposition was that of peace and non-violence. We wanted that power, we needed that power and so…we attacked them. Once we attacked them, we found out that if you ate their flesh, our powers were enhanced and we lived longer and fuller lives. We hunted them down to extinction; no one was spared and not once, did these creatures fought back. Demons would hold big festivals and feasts in which these poor creatures were slaughtered and their bodies were feasted upon by our race."

"Did you…?" Diesel asked the opened ended question, earning a head shake from Toga.

"No, I did not, nor did I ever wanted to eat the flesh of these creatures," Toga said, looking at the two people in his hospital room, "There was a negative outcome to eating the flesh of these super powered creatures. Addiction, once you had a taste for it, you never could get enough of it, you could never get enough of the power that came from the creatures. Many demons went mad with powerlust, wars were started and the dying race of creatures were rounded up and put into breeding programs. These programs didn't help because demons ate the creatures as soon as they were born. When the last known creature was eaten, we thought it to be over, we thought that without the creatures we could return to a normal life. We couldn't, and the vast advanced cities we built crumbled and fell. Wars were fought and powerlust spread like fire. We were back to the first square and we knew that we had to rebuild. We rebuilt the cities and we learn to curb the powerlust, but we couldn't forget it. It seemed, with each new generation of demons born, the powerlust seemed to be instilled in them."

"Well, how in the hell did the demons get wiped out, if it wasn't from all the wars?!" Diesel asked, jumping on Toga's bed, "Come on, old man, spill it!"

"Thaddeus," Carlos said, earning a pout from the boy, "Behave…"

Toga chuckled and said, "I have to deal with two brats myself but, I digress. It all begins with me, boy, a long time ago."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**November 12, 12xx**

**Location unknown**

Winter had come early in the forest, Toga thought to himself, striding through the snow and making his way back to the manor he lived in, It would be a long winter too, in these parts of the earth, the winters were long and hard, usually ending just days before the warm summers. He wondered how the humans could survive in such hostile areas. They were fragile beings, not unlike demons who could handle extreme heat and cold. It didn't really matter to Toga, humans were deemed as waste of space, there was nothing special about them, so the demons choose not to interact with them. Toga himself was not like most demons, he didn't live in a demonic city, choosing instead to build a manor in the forests. He had never done most anything, except to live a life of isolation. It was for the best, he had heard things about some wars and the like from ambitious demons seeking ultimate power. He wasn't one of those demons, he was a warrior and like true warriors didn't rely on outside power sources to become stronger. It was what his father taught him and so on. It was what he would teach his child, if he ever had a pup.

To shifted the fur cloak on his back higher and turned down the path to his home and paused, taking in the sight before him. Standing in the middle of the pathway, with snow falling around them, was a woman. It appeared to be a woman in the eyes of Toga, because they were small, frail looking and had long black hair and skin the color of some brown metal, maybe copper. He had never seen skin such as that before in this area. When he had traveled south, to the dessert there were several people with the woman's skin hue, but not here. What was she doing up here?

The woman, Toga now noticed, looked as though she had been through the grinder. She looked as though some creature had torn her apart, she was missing chunks of flesh and her whole body was covered in blood and she was trembling like a leaf, only covered in a ripped gown that was stained with her blood. The woman was holding onto a bundle, looking at Toga with deep amber eyes. Toga walked to the woman and asked in a soft voice, "Are you in need of medical help, madam?"

"It's too late for me," The woman said softly, looking up at Toga, "I am dying as we speak, I've come to you, Toga, to give you something precious."

The woman held the bundle out in her arms giving it to Toga, who took the bundle and looked down at it. In the bunches of soft cloth lay a baby, a newborn infant, who was fast asleep. Toga looked up to the woman who smiled weakly and whispered, "Take care of my child Toga, protect the last of us with your life. I will give you the last of my powers, willingly, so you can protect her."

"You are one of the creatures that the demons hunted down for their powers." Toga said, his eyes wide with shock, "Your kind died out thousands of years ago."

"I survived the mass extinction," The woman said, placing her hands on Toga's hand, "I have been in hiding ever since, but demons found me and attacked me. They tried to take the child I created but I escaped, but not without fatal injuries. I cannot heal myself, Toga, the injuries are too fatal for me. You will watch over my child, and you will protect her from people who want to consume her flesh and power."

"I will protect the child from those who wish to harm her," Toga said, earning a nod from the woman, "I will do what you want me to do."

The woman's hand glowed a soft blue and she said, as she faded away, "Toga, should any demon try to eat her, the ancient curse that is filtering through their black veins will come alive and the demon race will feel what we felt for centuries as they eradicated us."

The woman rested a shaking almost invisible hand on the bundle and whispered, "My darling child, you will go on to do great things, make our race proud…."

There was a bright blue light and then the woman was gone and all that remained was Toga and the sleeping newborn. Toga looked down at the newborn and said, "The last of an ancient great race…you will go on to do good things and I will lead you along the way."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"That doesn't tell me how the Demons got wiped out!" Diesel said, glaring at Toga, "Come on, tell me!"

"I will pup," toga said, reaching out and smacking the boy on top of his head, "Now, quiet…Oh yes, I created a small group of demons I knew who were trustworthy enough to watch over the child. We swore to protect her from any danger and it was fine, until one of the demons, a demon by the name of Gwen wanted to eat the child and gain all the power that was inside of her. She had led a coup, against us and was almost successful in killing the child, but the ancient curse that the woman told me about took effect. The demonic plague…a severe illness that burns the blood a demon until the demon is cooked from the inside out. It was an act of revenge from the creatures that the demons ate. They had created a disease that wiped out the entire demon race in months. The disease had apparently been the powerlust that affected the majority of the demon race. We were our undoing, Pup, We destroyed ourselves due to greed and violence."

"Why weren't you destroyed?" Diesel asked, his voice soft, "Why wasn't I destroyed?"

"I don't know about you, son," Toga said with a shrug, "Maybe it's because you never inherited the powerlust, maybe it's because you were abandoned as a child, I don't really know. For me, it's because the power that runs through my veins. The power that was given to me by the my charge's mother. It protected me because I am the Guardian of last remaining survivor of an extinct race."

"You told us that this demon Gwen attacked the mansion," Carlos said leaning back against the wall, "How is she alive, when you told us that the demons were wiped out by this disease?"

"Gwen is a powerful demon," Toga said, looking over to Carlos, "But that doesn't mean she would have been spared from the plague. It was because she herself had been a Guardian to my charge. She led the coup while she was a Guardian and she managed to slip out of the Diseases curse because I didn't disband her from the group, when it struck."

Diesel shook his head and said, "I can't believe it…all the demons, dead, because they tried to kill a baby…where are they now? The baby you're supposed to protect."

"She's not a baby anymore and she's somewhere safe, with her second Guardian," Toga said with a smile, "I have my faith in the other Guardian, she will protect her from danger."

"I wanna help too!" Diesel said, looking determined, "I wanna be a guardian too! Please, Old Fart, train me to be a Guardian."

"You'll have to take that up with your Alpha, and don't call me an Old Fart," Toga said, giving Diesel a look.

Carlos turned to Diesel and said, "Once I'm done being in charge with you, you may fully go into training, Thaddeus, but for now, you must do partial training, we have to go back home, and play pretend."

"Shit, life isn't fair," Diesel sighed, looking up at the ceiling, "School again…"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**July 16 20xx**

**Trenton New Jersey**

**Present Day**

Stephanie ran a hand over Heidi's hair and turned to her Grandma Mazur, who walked out the kitchen with two mugs of coffee. Stephanie accepted the cup of coffee and said, "I know it must be a shock to you, to see me here and alive, after all these years."

"I knew you were alive, missing but alive," Edna said, placing a hand on her grandchild's head, "You've grown up into a beautiful woman…I must know, where have you been all these years?"

"Safe, I was somewhere safe," Stephanie said, looking at her Grandma, "I'm not safe there anymore, we're not safe there anymore, me and my charge, is it possible for us to stay here for a few days, just until we can find a semi-permanent place?"

"Of course sweetie," Edna said, grabbing Stephanie's hand, "Stay for as long as you need to and it's so late right now, you can tell me everything tomorrow, go upstairs and rest, I'll make breakfast in the morning for us, okay?"

The thought of a warm meal that wasn't made in a restaurant sounded good to Stephanie. She finished her coffee and then lifted Heidi up in her arms saying, "Thanks Grandma Mazur, I'm so glad to have found you."

Edna smiled and said, "I'm just glad that you found me, sweetie, now, scoot, go upstairs and get plenty of sleep, like that baby in your arms."

Stephanie smiled and climbed up the stairs, at least for now, they didn't have to worry about Gwen.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**July 16th 20xx**

**Location Unknown**

Gwen let out a rare hiss of pain as her body rebuilt itself. She would kill Toga and then get the brat. That bastard, he had shouted a spell at her and it nearly killed her. It would take a while before her body would be back to 100 percent but when it was, she would find those who stood in her way and then take what she had been after for almost 1000 years. The taste of that child's flesh on her tongue would be sweet, only after she made the brat watch as every single one of her friends died before her.

Gwen was practically shivering with anticipation…

TBC….

* * *

Oh...things are going on and now that Stephanie's back in Trenton we'll start to see some regulars ;D


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8, enjoy!

Warning: none

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Please review? owo

* * *

**July 17 20xx**

**Trenton New Jersey**

**Present Day**

_Guardian _

_Chapter 8_

_Kitten_

"Mmm!" Heidi moaned, biting into a slice of bacon, "Mmm…mmm…MMM! Bacon is so damn yummy! Stephanie why didn't we bacon back at the mansion."

"Toga had us on a diet and considered bacon bad for us," Stephanie responded, drinking her cup of coffee, "It also included coffee, but I would sneak in a cup or two when he wasn't around."

Heidi stuck her tongue out and said, "I think it's nasty too, but this bacon is delicious, thank you Grandma Mazur for making it."

Edna gave the girl a smile and said, "She has such lovely manners, you must have taught them to you, though I remember that you were a bit of a wild child, Stephanie."

"Really?" Heidi asked, perking up and looking at Edna, "Please tell, Stephanie never talks about her past, and I wanna know all about her life before she became my bestest friend."

Stephanie rolled her eyes but let her grandmother tell Heidi all about her childhood. Stephanie didn't mean to come off as annoyed when Heidi would ask about her childhood, it was just, she didn't remember much of it. it was like a hazy memory in the back of her head. Something she thought about in April, on the anniversary of her family's death. Grandma Mazur might have stories about her that she had forgotten over the years.

"Well, when my Stephanie was 5," Edna said, scooping eggs onto Stephanie's plate, "She used to attract this boy named Joseph Morelli. I used to stay to her mother, those Morelli men were nothing but trouble, even the little ones!"

Stephanie smiled into her coffee, watching Heidi giggle along with her grandmother. She could vaguely remember that boy, hmm…she wondered where he was now. Heidi turned to Stephanie and said, "I bet you had a crush on him!"

"Oh no, my Stephanie hated him to pieces," Edna said, making Heidi gasp with surprise, "He used to pick at her, pull her hair, push her off the slide and the like. She couldn't stand the boy. One day he lured her into his father's garage and tried to do some highly inappropriate things with her."

Heidi turned to Stephanie and then asked Edna, "What did she do, Grandma Mazur?"

"She screamed bloody murder and kicked him in the family jewels. Then afterwards, she called her sister and a bunch of the neighborhood girls and they tied Joe up to a tree and wrote 'BAD BOY,' on his forehead!"

Heidi and Stephanie laughed out loud at the last part. Stephanie wished she could remember that incident, that sounded like it would have been a nice memory. Heidi stopped her laughter and then asked, "Wait…what does family jewels mean?!"

"Testicles, I kicked him in his testicles," Stephanie said, watching the gears turn in Heidi's brain.

"Oh…." Heidi said, blinking before she let out another peal of laughter, "Testicles! Ha! That must have hurt him!

Stephanie shook her head and then turned to her grandmother and said, "Grandma Mazur, do you know any places around here that are for rent? I don't want to be too close to the 'Burg, I'd rather be outside of it."

"Well, let me tell you," Edna said, pouring Heidi a glass of juice, "There are some brand spanking new townhouses on the nice side of Trenton, near Hamilton Street, some are them are being listed as rental properties, we can go have a look this morning if you want."

"That would be nice," Stephanie said, pouring more coffee, "And do you know if anyone is looking for someone who specializes in protecting people or catching bad guys?"

"Hmm…" Edna said tapping her chin, "There's a lot you need to catch me up on Stephanie, but I do know one of your cousins, Vinnie needs a new bounty hunter, if you're not scared of criminals and thugs packing heat, I think he could use you."

"I'll tell you as much as I can, Grandma Mazur," Stephanie said, looking over to Heidi, "Hey, I think I bought you a dress to wear, go find it and get dressed, we're going out."

Heidi jumped up from the table and raced upstairs, saying, "Thank you for breakfast, Grandma Mazur!

Stephanie got up and began to clean the table up saying, "I know you know about the car accident, Grandma Mazur, that occurred 20 years ago. After I woke up from the accident, I had been saved by a man who took me to his home. I was educated well and he trained me so I could watch over Heidi. She's important to us all, so I will protect her with my life, if need be."

Edna nodded her head and said, "I understand, baby girl, the only thing I care about is that this man took good care of my grandbaby and raised her to be a wonderful woman. This wonderful woman is now taking care of a child who will grow up to be a wonderful woman as well. I'll be upstairs getting dressed, finish cleaning up Stephanie and we can be on our way."

Grandma Mazur patted Stephanie cheek and left the kitchen. Stephanie smiled softly and went back to washing the dishes. She was glad to have found Grandma Mazur.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"This is a four story town house, with three main floors and a full finished basement and a two car garage," The realtor said, leading Stephanie, Edna and Heidi through the place, "It has two master suites, one on the third floor and one on the second floor, three bedrooms, two master en suites and four bathrooms and two half baths. The appliances are new and upgraded and the flooring is real wood and stain resistant carpeting."

"This is a nice place, Stephanie," Edna said, looking through the floor plan, "I think you and Heidi would be comfortable in this unit."

"It's so….small," Heidi said, opening all the cabinets in the kitchen, "Where are all the secret rooms?!"

"You'll get used to the size, Heidi," Stephanie said, before turning to the realtor, "How much is the rent for this unit?"

"3,000 dollars a month, that includes the HOA fee, and amenities fees," The woman said, "Rent is due on the 1st of the month and its based upon a yearly contract."

Stephanie nodded her head and watched as Heidi laid on the plush carpet in the living room. The townhouse was in a gated community on Hamilton Street, close to a high end shopping center and a seven story brick building that looked to be an office building. It was a quiet area and there were several schools close by both private and public, should Stephanie decided to enroll Heidi in one of them. This was a nice townhouse. It would need to be furnished and Stephanie could say, with a vengeance that she couldn't stand shopping.

Stephanie nodded her head and said, "I'll take it," getting out her credit card and handing it to the woman, "I'd like to pay for six months in advance."

"Six months?!" The woman squeaked, looking down at the Visa Platinum card, "Oh…this hasn't happened before, but okay, yes, if we can go to the main office, fill out the paper work and I'll give you the keys to the house."

"I get top floor master suite!" Heidi said, rolling around on the floor, "I like the view!"

"How are the neighbors?" Stephanie asked as they walked out the townhouse, "I'm know I'm beside the end unit, do I need to worry?"

"Oh no, the owner of the unit is a quiet person, from what I was told by the other tenants in the other units." The realtor said, leading the trio to the model townhouse and office, "This is a cozy place but no nosy neighbors, we're in the quiet part of Trenton and the schools around here are excellent."

"I don't need to go to a school, I have been tutored by the best private educators in Europe." Heidi said crossing her arms, "I am well educated!"

"Which means school will be a breeze for you," Stephanie said, earning a huff from Heidi, "You're going to school so you can socialize."

"I have you, Stephanie, I don't need anyone else," Heidi said, giving Stephanie a puppy eyed look.

"You're going to school and that's final."

"Damn it…"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**July 21st 20xx**

**Trenton New Jersey**

**Present Day**

"Man, it's sure good to be home," Diesel yawned as Carlos pulled the Porsche into the driveway, "I can't wait to grab some grub and head right to bed, and then a 24 hour marathon of video games!"

"Training," Carlos said, opening the garage door and idling the Porsche into it, "Be up at 5 and then afterwards, we'll discuss about enrolling you in a school, I've found a nice school for you, Thaddeus, it's close by, so you can walk there, and it's a private school, where they don't ask too many questions."

"School's for chumps," Diesel said, climbing out the car, "Do you want me to be a chump, Carlos, cause that's what going to happen, if I go to school!"

"You'll be an educated chump," Carlos said, ushering Diesel into the mudroom of the house, "Come on, Ella said she left dinner for us."

"Good, at least Ella doesn't feed me rabbit food," Diesel huffed kicking his boots off and entering the small hallway, "I hope she made steak, I could go for some cow, raw cow that is."

Carlos had known, right off the bat, that a penthouse would be the worse place to raise a 16 year old teenager. That was asking for trouble, and so, he did the next best thing, he went across the street and bought out the gated townhouse community and moved him and Diesel into one of them. He would rent out the other townhouses and make a tidy profit. They were against a large wooded park that Diesel liked to roam and close to entertainment. Carlos really liked the town house and wondered why he hadn't bought it before. Plus, Diesel was on the floor above him, so whenever the kid would try to sneak out, Carlos would catch him, unless he jumped out the window, which, he loved to do.

Carlos took off his shoes, closed the garage and made his way into the kitchen, where he found Diesel, at the table, eating a plate of raw beef, with his fingers, "Thaddeus, you know how to eat with a knife and fork, use it."

Diesel ignored him and said in a cheery voice, "We have neighbors, Carlos, I can hear them in the kitchen, apparently they're cooking."

"Hmm, new neighbors, well, just don't scare them off," Carlos said, sitting beside he boy at the breakfast bar and grabbing his salad, "They're paying a pretty penny to live here."

"I promise," Diesel said with an innocent smile, his green eyes fluttering.

"Good, and when you're done eating, go take a shower, you smell like a teenage boy," Carlos said, earning a hiss from Diesel.

"I am a teenage boy!" Diesel said, tearing through the meat on his plate, "I'm supposed to smell like musk and teenage angst."

Carlos chuckled and then ruffled Diesel hair. He ignore the whine the boy gave him and then said, "I want to talk to you about what you asked Toga, the other day."

"About becoming a Guardian…?" Diesel asked, looking up from his meal, "What about?"

"It's a big commitment, are you sure about it, Diesel?" Carlos asked, earning a nod from the boy, "Why?"

"You heard what Toga said, the demons wiped out a race, without remorse! I wanna make it up to the one who's the last of that extinct race," Diesel said putting the meat down, "I feel like it's my duty, or some shit."

Carlos nodded his head and then said, "Toga said the training is tough tougher than what I dish out to you."

"I can handle it," Diesel said, going back to his meat, "I mean, I'm a full bloodied demon, I can handle a shit ton of things."

"Alright, well hurry up and eat, then shower and I'll see you in the morning." Carlos said, as Diesel got up from the breakfast bar.

"Alright, old man, smell you later," Diesel said, climbing up the stairs two at a time.

With Diesel upstairs and hopefully doing what he was told to do. Carlos settled in his private office and went to get the work he left behind finished. He called up Tank, co-owner of Rangeman and asked if everything was fine.

"Oh, business is fine," A voice rumbled in the earpiece, "But I gotta tell you man, something interesting is going on down at Vinnie's bond shop. Apparently he has a new bounty hunter and they're taking care of the high bonds with ease."

Rangeman didn't need the extra income from doing part time apprehends for some second rate bail bond shop, but he was curious to see who was sweeping through Trenton without any problems. He made a mental note to check it out at the end of the week. For now he would focus on Rangeman, which would take him most of the night. He was used to the long nights dealing work, he would go to sleep at two but be up in a few hours ready to train the boy to pieces.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

**July 22nd 20xx**

**Trenton New Jersey**

**Present Time**

Heidi let out a groan as she heard loud noises coming from the wall beside her. She had loved the idea of being a smaller place, that meant she could find Stephanie with ease. The first few days of being in the new townhouse meant that they had to buy new things and Heidi loved shopping, unlike Stephanie who pissed and moaned as they went to buy furniture and other items for the house. Heidi had picked out the color scheme for the town house since the main colors had been a beautiful powder blue. To Heidi it felt like she and Stephanie were a family now! It was nice and plus Stephanie put up wards and protections too and she put some on Heidi that were pretty much permanent. Stephanie had told her that it, in a way, made her almost human and that the only ones who could notice her true self was Toga and Stephanie herself. Stephanie left the house most of the day to go to work and Heidi would spend her day with either Grandma Mazur, or by herself in the house. She had taken to keeping house, cleaning and cooking because she was bored and had no other things to do.

Right now, she was in her room, on the laptop Stephanie bought her. She was looking up recipes for tonight's dinner. Or, she was trying to, but the next door neighbor was so loud! Come on, how rude were they!? It was just Heidi right now, since Grandma Mazur had gone out to do some errands. She had offered to come and watch Heidi at the house and teach her how to make some kind of pineapple cake, or whatever she called it. Apparently Stephanie loved it as a child and Heidi was curious about her friend's history.

Heidi let out a yelp and jumped as she heard a loud whoop from the townhouse beside her. She turned to the wall and then jumped up on her bed and pounded on the wall screaming, "JERK! SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE A MARINADE!"

There was a moment of silence and then someone boomed, "GET BENT, SQUARE!"

Heidi bristled and said, "Square?! I don't know what that means, but I think it's not nice! I'm going to give that jerk a piece of my mind!"

Heidi jumped off her bed, stormed down two flights of stairs, slipped her sandals on and then stormed outside, and over to the next townhouse. Heidi climbed up the small stoop of stairs and then pressed the doorbell several times yelling, "JERK OPEN UP!"

Heidi only waited a few minutes before the door was wrenched opened and a teenage boy stood in the doorway, dressed in a ruffled shirt and a pair of boxers. Heidi could feel her face heat up and she exclaimed, "Is that how you greet guests?!"

"No, it's how I meet annoying neighbors," The boy said, scratching his leg and giving Heidi a look, "What do you want, square?"

"I'm not a square, but I know that you are being quite loud, can you be quieter?" Heidi asked, her hands on her hips and a pout on her face, "I'm trying to get work done."

"Look…kitten," The boy said, plucking Heidi's forehead, "I've been like on this busy ass training schedule, mkay? It's the first day off in two weeks and I don't want some puffed up kitten hissing and spitting at me while I'm in the middle of a video game binge."

Heidi rubbed her forehead and pouted some more, her eyes filling with tears, "It's not fair…I just wanted to get some work done and you…you…are being so mean to me, all I asked was for you to be quieter…hic-hic-"

"Aw shit," The boy said, grabbing Heidi's shoulders and shaking her gently, "Hey, kitten, I'm sorry for making you cry, shit…fine, I'll be quieter, so you can work, okay? I promise."

Heidi's tears quickly faded away as the boy petted her head and then she squealed, "Really? Thank you! Oh, you have a stain on your shirt, by the way, it looks like pee."

"It ain't piss!" The boy said, blushing and then saying, "Wait…did you…what just happened?"

"Thank you for promising for being quiet! See you later!" Heidi said skipping back to her home.

Heidi gave the boy a smile and then closed the front door, the boy still looking a bit stupefied.

Heidi closed the door and giggled loudly, she loved it when she manipulated jerks.

* * *

TBC….

The two children meet! Next chapter we spend with Stephanie at the bond office! :3


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9, enjoy!

Warning: Mild Violence

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Please review, the imaginary puppies in my head feed off of them, they're starving now!

* * *

_Guardian_

_Chapter 9_

_Wonder Woman_

"No way…." Stephanie sighed, looking up at the tiny store front that she sat parked in front of, "Oh...if I wasn't bored…."

Vinnie Plum's Bail Bond was located in between a café and some other obscure store set in some plaza that had seen better days. From what Grandma Mazur told her, Vinnie's moral compass was never set right and so, he would bail out anyone and everyone as long as they paid him. Sometimes when he bailed him out, they never show up to their court dates and then they're considered FTA or failure to appear, which sucks for Vinnie, because if they don't appear, he loses his money.

"He's been whining and moaning about needing a new bounty hunter," Grandma Mazur told Stephanie, "I think you'll like the job, you get to arrest people and stuff, ain't that a pip?!"

Stephanie let out a sigh and climbed out the car and made her way into the shop. The inside of the shop looked as bad as the outside, a green pleather couch, a battered coffee table with old magazines on it and a desk across from it. Sitting at the desk was a woman, who looked like Betty Boop, but she had a mustache and her breasts were pretty large. She gave Stephanie a look and said, in a New Jersey accent, "Yes, how may I help you?"

"Yeah, is Vinnie in?" Stephanie asked, looking at the woman behind the desk, "I've been told he's looking for a new bounty hunter."

The woman's eyebrows rose and she said, in a disbelieving voice, "You? You want to be a bounty hunter?"

"It doesn't sound like hard work, and besides, I'll bring those skips in fast and efficiently." Stephanie said, with a shrug, "I've experience with people who break the laws and the like, now is Vinnie in?"

The woman turned to the door and said, "He might be in, but I'd go in at your own risk."

Stephanie had no idea what the woman meant but she walked over to the plywood door and opened it with a bang. She heard a yelp and found a man sitting at desk ,with his pants open and his hand down said pants. The computer screen was turned to him but Stephanie didn't need to see what he was watching, she could hear it.

"What the fuck are you doing, barging into a man's office," The man boomed, glaring at Stephanie who sneered at him, "Get the fuck out before I call the cops."

"One…you are going to take your hands out your pants…." Stephanie said, looking at her cousin, "Two you're going to turn off the animal porn and we're going to have a little pow wow….okay? And if you don't want everyone to know that you jerk off to Playbarn, then you're going to sit there, shut up and only nod your head, got that?"

The man, who Stephanie now knew was Vinne, nodded his head. Stephanie placed a hand on the surface of the desk and said, "Now, first off, I need to tell you something, my name is Stephanie Plum, and I'm your cousin, you know the one that went missing 20 years ago?"

Vinnie eyes widened and then he opened his mouth to speak but Stephanie cut him off, "Remember what I said! Anyways, I'm back in town for a bit, and I need a job and I think being a bounty hunter would be a nice job."

"Are you fucking nuts?!" Vinnie boomed, giving Stephanie the stink eye, "Do you know what your grandma would do to me, if I let you catch criminals, she'd kill me!"

"I can handle my own," Stephanie said, waving her hand dismissively, "While I had been spirited away, I trained and I learned, don't believe me….give me an hour, and I'll get a skip."

Stephanie looked at the files on Vinnie's desk and picked one up saying, "28 year old Justin Jones, crime burglary and sexual assault….you bailed out a rapist?!"

Vinnie shrugged his shoulders and said, "Money is money and he paid in cash."

"I see," Stephanie said, with a sneer, "200,000 bond and he's gone missing, you would lose an arm and a leg and Grandma Mazaur said that your father in law gave you the money, you know the one in the mob…give me an hour and I'll get you your skip."

Vinnie sighed and said, "Fuck, fine, go get the fucking douche, but it ain't on my head if you get killed."

Stephanie waved Vinnie off and then stood up, holding the file, "I'll be back soon, to get my position."

Stephanie walked out the office and past the woman behind the desk. She paused and turned to her and asked, "What is your name, by the way?"

"Connie," The woman said, blinking, "Nice to meet you, Stephanie, I supposed."

"Mhmm," Stephanie said, with a wink, "See you in an hour."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie knew two things about the skip she was trying to apprehend. One, he wouldn't be at his home, because, he may be dumb, but he wasn't that dumb and two, he was a dangerous dumb man. That was a combination that she didn't want to deal with at all. Stephanie had dealt with dumb dangerous creatures before but unlike them, humans were extremely unpredictable in their stupidity and nonhuman creatures were somewhat predictable.

Stephanie shook her head going through the file she took off of Vinnie's desk. Justin Jones was a fucking piece of work and Stephanie didn't know if she wanted to bring him in in one piece or two. She couldn't believe that she was related to the piece of the scum that let this monster out. She needed to find this scum and soon, it would only be a matter of time before he got bored and went out looking for some fun.

Stephanie didn't need to use any of her skills to track the skip down, she knew right away where he was. He was at his girlfriend's place, most likely beating the poor woman up. She knew that most humans tend to be repetitive in their daily life, if the man had been arrested for raping a stranger, he would also be doing the same to his girlfriend.

A neighbor of Justin's, a kindly older woman, had given Stephanie directions to the girlfriend's place and then in a soft voice asked her to be careful and to get the poor girl away from that awful man. Stephanie had assured the woman that she would get the poor girl away from the awful man and then made her way to the address that had been given to her.

Justin's girlfriend lived in a matchbox apartment near the 'Burg and worked full time at a shop inside the mall. Stephanie climbed out the car and made her way up to the door of the woman's house. She knocked twice on the door and waited. Two minutes later the door was wrenched opened and there stood her skip, Justin Jones, dressed in a rumpled tank top and jeans, all said clothing were dirty. Stephanie rose an eyebrow and then said, "Justin Jones, Stephanie Plum, from Vinnie's Bail Bond, you've missed you court date, and I'm afraid you'll have to come with me to the police station."

Stephanie knew the moment she said those words, Justin would attack her, so she moved her head to the side as a large fist came flying right at her face. She quickly grabbed the fist with her hand and then said, "See, I was hoping you would be compliant with me and just go, but I see that I was wrong."

"Bitch, like hell I'm going with you back to fucking jail," Justin growled, trying and failing to shake Stephanie off him, "If you think that I'm-"

Stephanie's eyes narrowed and then she squeezed the fist in her hand hard, feeling satisfaction as she heard cracks from bones breaking. Justin let out a howl of agony, falling to the ground and trying to get free from Stephanie. Stephanie squeezed harder and hissed, "Look, you son of a bitch, you are going to get into my car, with no problems, and you're not going to make a peep, if you so much as look at me in the wrong way, I'll break your other hand, got it?"

"Fuck you, you cunt bi-AH!" Justin screamed out in agony as Stephanie quickly grabbed his other free hand and broke that with ease, "You crazy bitch!"

"You were resisting me, so I was force to use physical force," Stephanie said, hauling the man up and leading him to the stairs, "Come along now, let's go, before the neighbors catch you crying.

Stephanie closed the door to the apartment that Justin had been staying just as a woman came up the stairs and stopped to stare at Stephanie and Justin. She gave Justin a somewhat scared look and then turned to Stephanie. Stephanie nodded her head to Justin's direction and said, "Sorry, but I have to take him in, he missed his court case."

Though the woman was wearing makeup, Stephanie could see the outline of a bruise around the woman's eye. Stephanie walked over to the woman and said, in a low voice, "If you're ever in need of any help, Contact Vinnie's Bail Bond shop and ask for Stephanie, I mean it, and don't go dating jerks, it's nothing but a painful ride."

"O-okay," The woman said softly, as Stephanie wrote down the number to the bond shop, "Thank you…"

"I doubt a judge will give this jerk a second bail hearing, he won't see the light of day for a while," Stephanie said, pushing a whimpering Justin to the stairs, "If you have the courage, testify against this bastard, don't let him get away with what he was doing to you."

The woman nodded her head and said, "I'll…make some calls, thank you."

"Humans are such interesting creatures," Stephanie said, as she led Justin down the stairs.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I believe this needs to go to you," Stephanie said, dropping the body receipt on Connie's desk, "Justin Jones is tucked away in the Trenton police department, he won't be any trouble for anyone for a long time."

Connie blinked, looking down at the piece of paper and then said, in awe, "You're a wonder, Stephanie, it would take Rangeman at least a few days to get this type of skip, if Vinnie doesn't hire you, I'll skin him alive."

Stephanie smiled and watched as Connie wrote out a check for her, saying, "Here you go, ten percent of 200,000 is 20,000, don't spend it all in one place."

"I don't plan on it," Stephanie said, tucking the check into her breast pocket, "I have an amoeba at home who likes to shop."

Connie nodded her head and said, "Vinnie's in the back, go get your job, Stephanie."

Stephanie smiled and then walked into Vinnie's office, swinging the door open and saying, "Oh…look at that, 3 minutes to spare, now, cousin, I'll be taking that position that you needed to be filled."

"I was gonna let Ranger take this one, but shit, you're back and you're in one piece," Vinnie said, looking at his cousin, "Well, if you want the job so badly, you can have it, as long as you don't tell anyone about the you know what."

"I promise," Stephanie said, with a wink, "Pardon me, I have to go home, see you tomorrow."

Stephanie gave Connie a finger wave and walked out the office and into her car. She smiled in the rear view mirror and said, "Perfect, now I won't be so bored!"

Stephanie backed out of the parking space and was about to pull out of the parking lot itself when she felt something hard hit the back of her car. Stephanie didn't need to know what that was she already knew. Someone had hit her baby, her brand new Mercedes had been hit by a car.

Stephanie quickly got out the car and went to the back and look. Her baby only had a scratch on it but damn it, she'll have to go find someplace that worked on luxury cars and that would be a bitch.

"Thanks a lot," Stephanie said, turning to the car that hit her, a black SUV, "Now, I'll have to go and deal with this pain in my ass."

"At least you're in any real pain," A man's voice said, making Stephanie turn back to the SUV, "Don't worry about this, I'll take care of your car."

The man in front of Stephanie was very handsome, with caramel colored skin and odd green eyes. He had short black hair with blond tipped spikes and he was dressed in black. Stephanie could see that the man was trying to be serious but he had a smile on the side of his mouth.

"Really?" Stephanie said, crossing her arms, "You'll take care of my baby?"

"I will, my cousin has a uh….place," The man said, shrugging, "Look it's my fault I scratched your baby, I'll fix it, the name's Lester Santos."

"Stephanie," Stephanie said, uncrossing her arms, "And you're serious, you're going to fix my baby up?"

"I'll even throw in a free air freshener," Lester chuckled, before looking over to the Bond shop, "Say, why are you here anyways, getting into trouble?"

"Please, I work here now," Stephanie said, with a wink, "I'm a bounty hunter, just dropped off Justin Jones at the police department.""

"What?!" Lester said, looking shocked, "You took down Justin Jones, damn, I was going to do that now, but shit, now I have to take care of your car, you saved me a bunch of time. And you took him down without a scratch, what are you, Wonder Woman?"

"Something like that," Stephanie said, with a wink, taking out a piece of paper and writing on it, "Here's my address and my phone number, my baby will be waiting for you, Lester, see you soon."

Lester took the piece of paper and tucked it into his pocket, "Alright, I'll swing by at night to get your baby."

Stephanie climbed back in her car and then took off to the bank. She deposited the check into Heidi's account, since she had given the girl shopping duty. Stephanie then went over to Grandma Mazur's house, to check up on her and then went back home. She found Heidi in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on a cake. Stephanie swiped her finger through the frosting that rested on the top of the cake and said, "I got the bounty hunting job, so now, I won't be bored!"

"What about me?" Heidi asked, swatting Stephanie's fingers away, "I'll be bored, because you're off beating up bad guys!"

"You'll be in school soon, I found a nice private school for you that's just up the road, you can walk to school, if you want," Stephanie said, taking out a pamphlet, "See it's very nice looking and they have tons of clubs you can join for after-school activities.

Heidi took the pamphlet and said, "Really the school's name is Rosewood Academy, how original, and it says here, uniforms are mandatory, I've never worn a uniform before in my life, can Toga hurry up and come get us, so I can go back to being tutored?"

Stephanie plucked Heidi's nose and said, "Sorry, brat, you know how Toga works, we might be here for a long time, so, it's better to assimilate into the crowd, I've already enrolled you, school starts on September the 4th, that gives you plenty of time to cope with the idea that you'll be among children your own age."

"Yeah, well, they're going to be human children, I'm not," Heidi sighed, before she turned to glare at the wall, "One person in the townhouse next to us is being loud, you need to kill them, Stephanie."

"Not going to," Stephanie said, walking out the kitchen, "Deal with it, I'm going to take a nap, call me when it's lunch time, oh! If you see that the car's gone, don't worry, some jerk hurt my baby and he's fixing it up!"

"She gets a fun job while I'm here, sweating away and cleaning up the house like a slave," Heidi huffed, just as someone from next door whooped loudly, "I swear to god, I'm going to kick that jerk right in the nuts for being loud!"

TBC...

* * *

Up next, Stephanie and Carlos get to meet! OHHHHH!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10! Enjoy! I'll be updating this maybe every other day, There's a new story I'm writing and it's pretty tense, maybe I'll post it...maybe...

Warning: Violence

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Please review, for every review a Ranger gets his Babe ;D

* * *

_Guardian _

_Chapter 10_

_Memento_

"How do you deal with….females?"

That wasn't a question that Lester was expecting from Diesel. Lester looked over to the boy, seeing him hanging off the side of the couch, reading a textbook, his face scrunched up in concentration.

"I'm afraid to ask why…." Lester said, looking back down at Diesel's class work, "Damn it, I told you that this isn't the right equation!"

"Stop being such a chump, Lester, this is serious!" Diesel said, rolling off the couch and onto the floor, "Alright, there's this girl next door and…whenever I do something annoying, she comes over, gives me the water works and then I'm like putty in her hands….how do I not become putty in her hands?"

Lester rolled his eyes and then sighed, watching Diesel scurry over to the to the side door that led out to the large backyard. He was looking intently out the door and at the next house over. Lester shook his head and said, "There's nothing I can do to help you with your issue, women and girls are dangerous and you'll learn how to deal with them, once you get older."

"Once I get older?!" Diesel exclaimed, looking over to Lester, his eyes wide with horror, "I can't wait that long! She comes over every day now, hoping I slip up or something…."

"She comes over to see you?" Lester asked, as he checked Diesel's classwork, "Really?"

"Yeah, she likes to nitpick and everything," Diesel moaned, covering his face, "I think she's bored or something, am I her source of entertainment, a source of laughter, am I being used?"

Lester chuckled and said, "I doubt it, I think she's just lonely and there's someone her age around. Tell you what, try being a little more cordial and see what happens, I swear man, the nit picking…will stop."

"Whatever you say man," Diesel said as he finished reading the textbook, just as the doorbell began to ring, "Fuck, there she is, like fucking clockwork, always at 3PM!"

Diesel got up from the floor and made his way over to the front door of the townhouse. He wrenched opened the door and sighed, "Hello, what is it this time? Did I breathe loudly, or did I drop something you didn't like?"

Diesel looked down at the girl in front of him and took a good look at her. He never really given a moment to look at her, and now that he did, he was intrigued. She barely reached his shoulder and was almost frail looking. She had long black hair that was up in a messy bun and amber eyes that were the color of raw honey. She was dressed in a strapless summer dress that was light blue with a embroider that consisted of tiny white butterflies. The only thing she had on her feet was a pair of white flip flops. Diesel tilted his head to the side and then said aloud, "You look like a doll…"

"Excuse me, but what?" the girl asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"You look like a doll, kitten," Diesel said, with a shrug, looking at the girl in front of him and watching her puff up, "Not in a bad way, but like, you know, you're kind of pretty, but you're cuter when you get all angry and shit. You know, cause you like a kitten when you are angry."

The girl in front of him blinked her eyes and then said, in a soft voice, "I don't know what to say about that….I've never had a boy say anything like that to me…uh…what should I say?"

"You should say thank you and," Diesel said, leaning forward, "And then tell me why you're at my front door."

"Thanks, I guess, and I'm here because…I want to know what you're doing right now?" Heidi said looking over Diesel's shoulder, "What are you doing in there?! Playing those loud games again?"

"Nah, studying," Diesel said, just as the girl pushed past him and made her way into the house, "Hey now! I didn't invite you in!"

"You called me pretty, that's just another way of saying 'Please, do come in,'" the girl said, walking through the foyer and into the living room, "Oh, is this your father?"

Diesel sighed watching the girl point to Lester. He rolled his eyes and said, "I'm not telling you shit, I don't even know your name."

"Heidi!" The girl said, smiling brightly, "So, you must be this jerk's father, you need to tell him not to be so loud, I'm learning new recipes next door."

Diesel watched Lester fiddle with a piece of paper and then Lester said, "Hey, I hit your mom's car a few days back, I hope she's still not mad at me for hurting her baby."

"Meh, she got over it, once she saw how nice the car looked, plus she likes the air freshener too," Heidi said, tucking her hands in her dress pockets, "Plus, she's not my mom, she's my best friend."

"Oh, sorry," Lester said, holding his hands up, "I'm not Diesel's dad, I'm Lester and I'm just his math tutor, that was one of my majors back in college, math."

"Ew," Heidi said sitting at the breakfast bar with Lester, "Gross, it's Trigonometry! I studied that when I was like….10, it's boring and blah."

"What are you, some child genius?" Diesel asked, going over to Heidi, "This shit is hard, Quadratic Functions, imaginary numbers, why in the hell are we learning this shit if it ain't real?!"

"Cause, it'll make you a lot of money, when you get older," Lester said, earning a giggle from Heidi, "Heidi, this is Thaddeus, he's charmed to meet you."

Heidi let out a giggle, to which Diesel hissed and said, "I didn't want the fucking name, some crazy bint named me!"

"I like the name Thaddeus," Heidi said, blinking at Diesel, "It's a refined name, like, Alexander, but it's Thaddeus."

"Well, that name sucks balls, from now on, call me Diesel," Diesel said, closing the math textbook, "I feel like a chump when you call me Thaddeus."

"Diesel…." Heidi said, as if she was tasting the name on her lips, "Hmm, it's a little odd, but alright, if you don't want to be called Thaddeus, though I prefer that to Diesel…"

"Yeah well I prefer not to learn about bullshit and horse cock, but I'm stuck learning about fake numbers and equations that I ain't going to touch after I take some tests," Diesel huffed, pushing the math textbook away from them all, "Alright, looks like we're done with school work, let's go do something that's fun!"

"Let's go over to my house, I made cake," Heidi said, getting up from the breakfast bar, "It's yellow cake with chocolate frosting, I think you'll like it."

"Cake, I love cake," Diesel said, following Heidi out the door, "Smell ya later, Les, I'm getting free cake!"

"I won't tell you know who where you are, since you're with some nice company," Lester said, just as Diesel closed the front door, "Good, he needs some interaction with children his age, what did I tell you, kid, be nice to them, you'll get the ladies…"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I don't see why I have to go after this skip," Stephanie muttered, pulling into the small apartment complex, "It's a simple skip, get one of those Ranger men to do it for you, Vinnie, I only go after the big fishes."

Stephanie let out a groan and looked at the file. 23 year old Regina Harding had been arrested for solicitation and prostitution. She had a 5,000 dollar bond and had missed her court date. Vinnie had snapped at Stephanie that she needed to catch some of the low bond skips as well, since Ranger men, or whatever don't deal with them. As if she would deal with them too, alright, this one time and then she would never deal with them again! She made sure Vinnie knew she didn't deal with low skips by punching him in the nose. She had heard bones break, and so that left her satisfied.

Stephanie got the feeling that Regina had forgotten about her court date and would actually go with Stephanie to the police department, hell it was her first offense, so she'll be let off the hook too and probably out in an hour or so.

Regina lived on the first floor of the apartment complex so it was an easy walk for Stephanie. It was 10 in the morning and it seemed that everyone in the complex was out and about. Hopefully Regina wouldn't be out and about. It would make her life easier. Shit, why did she have to deal with low level skips.

Stephanie walked over to a battered door that had 4B on it. Stephanie lifted her knuckles up to knock but paused as she noticed that door was slightly opened. Stephanie hissed and said, "What the fuck…this isn't what I signed up for."

Stephanie grabbed the hilt of the her sword, which she had gotten a lot of flak from Vinnie about it. She pushed opened the door and entered the apartment silently and froze. She sniffed the air slightly and sighed, "Fuck….." before she crept past the cramp living area and over to the closed door that led into the bedroom. She opened the door and wasn't surprised to see what she found.

Regina Harding lay sprawled on the bed, covered in her own blood. Her eyes were halfway opened and her mouth opened with horror. Stephanie shook her head and said, "Fuck, just what I wanted, a fucking murder-"

Stephanie rounded suddenly, swinging her sword out and jabbing the tip of the blade into the throat. She didn't draw blood but she made sure that person knew that with one jerk, she would run the blade right up into their brain.

"A sword, that's new way to catch skips," The person said, the side of their mouth curled up in an almost smile.

The man before Stephanie was handsome…okay, more than handsome, he was like a Latin god, with mocha latte skin, black hair that was full and reached his shoulders. He was tall and well-muscled, dressed in a black shirt and black cargo pants. Chocolate eyes looked into Stephanie's blue eyes and then the man said, "I'll say it again, a sword?"

"Meh, guns are for cowards," Stephanie said, looking at the man, "Who are you?"

"Vinnie told me about you," The man said, making Stephanie roll her eyes, "His new bounty hunter who was taking care of business, had to come see for myself."

Stephanie sighed and lowered her sword, tucking it into the sheath, "Of course he'd talk about me, so, you're Ranger man, or whatever."

"Ranger," The man said, before looking over Stephanie's shoulder, "Is that the skip you're after today?"

"Was," Stephanie said, with a shrug, looking at Regina's body, "Whoever did this to her was on a mission."

Ranger walked past Stephanie, looking at Regina's body and taking out a phone, "I'll call the cops, looks like whoever killed her took a memento."

Stephanie walked over to the bed and hissed, seeing that the poor woman's abdomen had been slashed opened and all that was left was an empty cavity full of congealed blood. Stephanie turned to Ranger and asked, "So, Jack the Ripper has been reincarnated?"

"Looks like it," Ranger said, after he called the cops, "Come on, let's wait outside for the boys in blue."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

They didn't have to wait long for the cops and before the two were giving their statements to the cops. One of the cops, though, gave Stephanie a hard look and said, in a soft voice, "You remind me of someone."

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders, but the cop shook his head and said, "No you really do remind me of someone from a long time ago…a relative of mine…I don't know, might be a coincidence that you look like her…"

The cop gave Stephanie a business card and said, "My name is Eddie, if you have any questions call me."

Of course the cop thought that Stephanie looked familiar, this was Eddie, her cousin, she could vaguely remember playing with him when she had been a child. Fuck, if he found out that she was his cousin, he would tell the news and then her face would be plastered on the TV screens and Gwen would find her and Heidi…and Heidi…

"Thank you Eddie," Stephanie said, tucking the card in her pocket before turning to Ranger, who stood looking at her, "Okay, what?"

"Nothing," Ranger said, walking over to Stephanie, "I just wanted to come by and check out the new bounty hunter, here's my number, call me if you need anything."

"Geez, I feel happy knowing that there's a strong around to help me," Stephanie said, tucking the business car Ranger gave into her pants pocket.

Ranger gave her a somewhat small smile and said, "Catch you later, Babe."

"Did he just…." Stephanie said, puffing up, watching Ranger walk over to a black SUV "Oh! Men…"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Holy shit," Diesel groaned, eating more of the cake Heidi laid out in front of him, "This is delicious, you baked this, Heidi?!"

"I did," Heidi said, proudly, eating her own slice of cake, "I'm learning some new recipes, because Stephanie's always at work and I want to help out."

"Wish Carlos could like this, all we eat is rabbit food, since it's healthy and shit," Diesel said, grabbing another slice of cake, "I like meat, damn it, and cake, I like cake too."

"Who's Carlos?" Heidi asked, pouring a glass of milk for Diesel, "Is he your father?"

"Nah, he's like my mentor, or some shit," Diesel said, thanking Heidi for the glass of milk, "Trains me and shit, he wants me to be smart, so he's homeschooling me, I don't need to know about math and shit, all I need to do is learn how to protect people."

"You should learn the basics, at least," Heidi said, sipping her milk, "I mean, you can't get by with just muscles, you need to know some things. Tell you what, if you want, I can help you with your homework, it's no problem."

"Well you do sound like you're smart and shit," Diesel said, finishing off his cake and milk, "Alright, you can help me, Heidi, thanks."

"No problem, and it will help with my boredom," Heidi said, watching Diesel pick up the private school pamphlet, "Oh that's the stupid school I'm-"

"Well, I'll be damned," Diesel said, looking over to Heidi, "We're going to the same school! Carlos enrolled me in this chump school too! I bet I'll get kicked out before the week's out, I can't stand school, sucks balls."

"I've been tutored all my life," Heidi huffed, looking at the school on the picture, "Now, I have to go learn stuff I already know, it's not fair!"

Diesel and Heidi huffed and slumped in their seats at the same time. They both gave each other looks and then exploded in laughter. As they laughed, the front door to the house opened and Stephanie came walking in, holding several grocery bags. She gave the two children a look and asked, "Did you make peace with the annoying neighbor?"

"I did, we're enjoying cake right now," Heidi said with a smile, turning to Diesel, "Stephanie this is Diesel, his real name is Thaddeus, but he hates it."

"I would hate the name Thaddeus too, who in the hell named you that ugly name?" Stephanie asked, placing he groceries on the table, "I got everything on the list, Heidi, though couldn't find fresh butter, there's no farm nearby so I got the regular butter."

"See I'm not the only one who thinks that name is fucking shit," Diesel said, getting up, and stretching, "Hey, Heidi, I have to go, Carlos is going to be home and he's going to bust my chops about not doing class work, again!"

"Oh, Diesel," Heidi said, getting up and looking at the boy, "I'm grilling something on Thursday, you and Carlos are welcomed to come join us, please?"

"Well you did ask nicely, I'll get Carlos to come over, he'll bring rabbit food!" Diesel said, walking to the front door, "Let's hang out tomorrow, maybe I can show you some of the games I play."

"Okay, that sounds fun!" Heidi said, as Diesel left the house, "See you!"

"He's cute," Stephanie said, taking out the food she bought to put away, "He sounds a bit rough, but he's better than the guy I met today, his name is Ranger, can you believe that, I laughed myself silly after I left."

Heidi giggled and said, "Ranger and Diesel, what silly names, hmm, I don't know what we should eat tonight…."

"I bought a pizza," Stephanie said, holding up a box, "I think we should take a night off, one of my skips had been murdered in her house and I could use some Heidi time."

"Oh my, what happened?" Heidi asked, going over to Stephanie and hugging her, "Was it bad?"

"Some monster gutted her like a fish," Stephanie said, wrapping an arm around Heidi's shoulders, "That's all I'm saying, okay, let's pop this pizza in the over and pick out some movies, cause I wanna vegetate!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Corolla leaned against the lamp post that separated Stark Street from the rest of Trenton. She never turned tricks in Stark Street, heaven knows what she would pick up from a John that lived in Stark Street. She choose the edges of Stark Street where the Johns were a plenty and the competition was cake walk.

Corolla had been a prostitute for a while now, since she was 17, but she was turning 24 soon and she wouldn't spend all her time selling her body, she wanted to be someone, to do something with her life. She had been putting aside some money, for school. She was going to go to school and become a nurse, and help children. She wanted to help the children out and being a nurse would let her do that.

Corolla smiled as a sleek and shiny car pulled up to her and the window of said car slid down partly.

"How much do you charge?" A voice asked softly, making Corolla smile and saunter over to the car.

"60 for a Hand Job, 70 for a blow job and 100 for vaginal sex, anal and extras vary," Corolla said, trying to peer into the darkness that loomed in the car.

"Get in, I'll buy you for an hour," The person said, making Corolla smile and walk around the car to get into the car.

Corolla climbed into the car and then the car was off, away from Stark Street and down the road, until Trenton was behind them. The person stopped the car on a deserted dead end and turned it off. Corolla smiled and said, "Okay, let's get to-AH"

Corolla felt a sharp pain in her chest and she looked down to see a the hilt of a knife sticking out from it. Corolla whimpered softly and then slumped forward, dead. The person started the car and then took off back to Trenton. Moments later, Corolla's body was being dumped behind an abandoned factory, her abdomen gutted and clean of her reproductive organs.

TBC...

* * *

Uh oh...things are going down in Trenton...Please review?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 enjoy!

Warning: None

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Please review? .3. For every review a Ranger gets his Babe!

* * *

_Guardian_

_Chapter 11_

_Fickle Creatures_

"What is that?" Carlos asked his charge, watching Diesel try to shuffle up the stairs, holding something in his hands, "Thaddeus front and center!"

"Fuck," Diesel cursed, turning to look at Carlos, who stood in the kitchen, holding a cup of tea, "Oh…what's up, Carlos my man…I thought you were away…and you know…busy…"

"What is that you're hiding?" Carlos asked, once again, watching Diesel freeze up, "Show me."

"Hey Carlos, you know…we were invited next door tomorrow, they're grilling meat, and you know, you can bring some rabbit food, if you want," Diesel said, watching Carlos give him a look.

"We'll go, but I want to see what's in your hands," Carlos said, making Diesel wince, "Open them….now."

"Fuck," Diesel sighed, before he lowered his arm to reveal a black and white cat, looking around with interest.

Carlos placed his cup of tea on the counter and crossed his arms, giving Diesel a look. Diesel shrugged his shoulders and said, "Look, Heidi and I were walking down the road and we saw a bunch of punks picking on little Oreo here, and so we saved her and-"

"Heidi?" Carlos asked, his eyebrow raising, "Who is Heidi?"

"She's the next door neighbor," Diesel said, pointing to the wall, "She's cool and shit, helps me with my homework and everything. We hang out and shit, she's a great cook too. Anyways, we found Oreo here, getting kicked around and so I saved her and she's been on me like glue, I can't get rid of her, look!"

Diesel placed the cat down on the counter, and walked over to the living room. The cat let out a meow and then jumped down from the counter and pranced over to Diesel, making her way up his leg and onto his shoulder. Diesel shrugged his shoulders and said, "See, can't get rid of her, Carlos, Oreo is my Familiar!"

Carlos watched Diesel's face brighten as the small cat rubbed against his head and began to groom him. It was nice to see the kid happy, and Carlos himself enjoyed cats and this cat seemed extremely tamed. Oh what the hell.

"I'll call Ella and she'll get some things for Oreo," Carlos said, earning a whoop from Diesel, "But if she goes to the bathroom on the carpet, you're cleaning it up."

"Oreo is a smart cookie," Diesel said, laughing at his pun, while petting the cat, "She'll do her pissing and shitting in the toilet, I'll train her!"

Carlos shook his head as Diesel ran up the stairs talking to the cat. Carlos pulled his phone out and called Ella to get cat supplies for Oreo. He made a call to Toga to check on the demon. Toga told him that he would out of commission for a while, and that he'll start looking for his two charges at the beginning of next year, when he was 100 percent better. Carlos sat down at the table and thought about Toga's charges. Who were they? They must have merged into the crowd easily then. Well, if Carlos found them, he would take charge in protecting them, until Toga was able to take care of them.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Don't break my nose again," Vinnie said, holding up a yellow file, "But I need for you to go out and get a low level skip, OUCH! Hey don't hurt me!"

"I'm hurting you," Stephanie said, punching Vinnie again in the shoulder, "Asshole, get those Ranger men on it!"

Connie giggled as Stephanie flipped through the file, every now and then, she would give Vinnie the stink eye. Stephanie sighed and read aloud, "Henry Walter, 45, his crime was a hit and run, never showed up to court, bail 25,000 dollars. This is stupid, go get him yourself, you ass clown."

"I would but I'm tired, and shit," Vinnie said, looking at his cousin, "You're here, waiting around for some big skips, this is somewhat big, go get him for me, please?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Stephanie made it to the address in ten minutes, five minutes later, the house was up in flames and the fire department had been called. Stephanie shook her head at Henry and said, "Idiot, I told you that a grease fire can't be put out with water."

"You did catch me at the wrong time, I was making lunch!" Henry said, with a shrug, just as a big yellow ball of fluff came bounding up to the two of them, barking loudly, "Shit, it's Bob."

"Bob?" Stephanie asked, just as the yellow fluff jumped on Henry, licking his face and tail wagging to the nines, "That's a dumb name for a dog."

"Well, he's a dumb dog," Henry said pushing the dog off him, "Sit Bob!"

Bob barked again and then jumped on Henry again. Henry groaned and said, "Damn dog, I thought I lost you in the park!"

"You abandoned your dog in the park?!" Stephanie asked, her hands on her hips, "Man, you are something else! Well, now you don't have a house, what are you going to do with Bob?"

"Send him to the kill shelter, that's what, he's worthless and doesn't obey, see! Look at him!" Walter said, as Bob jumped on him again, "Down dumb dog!"

"I ought to put you to sleep," Stephanie said, watching Bob turn to her and sniff her before jumping up on her to lick her face, "Okay, calm down, Bob."

Bob barked and jumped down, looking up at Stephanie with big brown eyes. Fuck, Stephanie was a stickler for chocolate brown eyes. Bob seemed to know that and whined, shuffling closer to Stephanie. Stephanie bit her lip and groaned loudly before she said, "Fuck…okay, Bob, get in the front, you're coming home with me, as for you Walter, get in the back, I'm taking you downtown."

"We are downtown," Henry said, climbing into the back of Stephanie's car.

"Bob, get in the back with Henry…." Stephanie said, making Bob jump into the back and attack Henry with kisses.

"ACK!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Oh my god!" Heidi squealed as Bob ran around her in circles, "He's adorable! He's so fluffy! AH!"

Bob pushed Heidi to the ground with a bark and began to lick her face, his tail wagging so hard that his bottom wagged with it. Heidi laughed and giggled before she sat up and said, hugging Bob's neck, "Is he ours, we really own this cute puppy?"

Stephanie sighed and said, "Yes, we do, his owner was an idiot and so, I took him away from the stupidity. I got some stuff for him, and I think you won't be lonely with Bob here with you."

Stephanie smiled as Heidi and Bob rolled around on the floor. Stephanie had to admit, the dog was adorable and seeing Heidi's smile, when the dog came bounding in will be worth the little doggy messes and the like.

"He's so smart too!" Heidi said as she stood up and looked down at Bob, "Bob…sit!"

Bob looked up at Heidi and then barked, before jumping up to lick her again. Stephanie rolled her eyes and said, "We'll get a trainer to teach Bob some lessons, maybe he is smart."

Heidi rubbed Bob's head and said, "I got all the meat prepped for tonight's grill, steak, pork, chicken, I hope we got enough food…Diesel said Carlos is bringing over a pasta dish, I made couscous and chocolate torte cake.

"Sounds like a good dinner to me," Stephanie said, placing her sword back in the place she stored it, "I'll go get the grill set up, I'll take Bob out into the backyard, so he can run around."

"Diesel may have Oreo, but I have a smart dog named Bob, and a smart dog that can do tricks is way better than a cat that's named Oreo!" Heidi said, as Bob bounded away from her, "I can't wait to rub it in Diesel's face!"

Heidi clapped her hands and made her way to the kitchen, Diesel and his mentor would be here in about 30 minutes. She had just enough time to clean the shrimp she had bought this morning and marinade them in the sauce she created this morning. Mmm…tangy sweet and sour grilled-

"ARGH! YOU! BOB! ATTACK!" Stephanie's voice boomed making Heidi jump in surprise, "No! Don't kiss him, attack him!"

Heidi ran over to the side doors and looked out seeing Stephanie glaring at a man who was on the grass, being licked to death by Bob. Diesel stood close by, holding a large dish that was covered in plastic, with Oreo on his shoulder, looking down at the dog with interest. Heidi smiled and said, "Diesel! You two are here early, I haven't even set the patio table yet!"

"I can help set up the table," Diesel said, just as the man stood up and brushed himself off, "Oh, Heidi, Stephanie, this is my mentor, Carlos!"

"You live next door to me?!" Stephanie sighed, looking at the man in front of her, "Of all the rotten luck…"

Stephanie made a sound as Heidi seemed to float over to Carlos and say, with a sigh, "Oh…Hello, I'm Heidi, I never knew such a handsome man such as you would be the mentor of someone who is such a cad…."

"What?!" Diesel exclaimed, looking at Heidi, "I ain't no cat! I'm a man, 100 percent male!"

"A dumb male at that," Stephanie muttered under her breath, earning a smile from Carlos, "Hey! Don't laugh at my joke, you-"

"I'm glad to be next door neighbors with you, Babe," Carlos said, grabbing Stephanie's hand and shaking it, "If I had known about you living next to me, I would have invited you over for dinner."

"Yeah, well your little admirer did," Stephanie said, placing a hand on Heidi's head, "Well come on, since Bob's not going to kill you, you can stay and enjoy dinner."

"Thank goodness for Bob," Carlos said, winking at Stephanie, "I heard that you're a good cook, Heidi, what's on the menu tonight?"

"Oh….anything you want…" Heidi cooed, clasping her hands together, "Chicken, beef….me…."

Diesel blushed and said, "Every time, come on, Heidi, let's go set the table, and Carlos can you please not seduce every female in a ten mile radius!"

Diesel grabbed Heidi by her arm and led her back to the porch. Heidi sighed as Diesel led her away from Carlos. Stephanie shook her head and said, "Shoot, Well, do you want a drink, while we wait for the brat to make dinner?"

"Sure, I'll take a beer," Carlos said, walking with Stephanie over to the side door of the town house, "This is nicer than our townhouse, who decorated the place?"

"Heidi, I just go out and catch bad guys and make the money, she does everything else," Stephanie said, going into the refrigerator and taking out two beers, "Here you go, you're lucky I like to drink beer, Heidi only keeps wine in the pantry."

"She drinks wine?" Carlos asked, giving Stephanie a look.

"Uh no, she keeps it in the pantry to cook with," Stephanie said quickly, looking away from Carlos, "She doesn't drink, that's so…European!"

Truth was, Heidi was a lush, when it came to wine, the girl was worse than Stephanie and Toga encouraged it by teaching her all about wine and champagne. Stephanie toned it down since they got to New Jersey, but the girl still drinks two glasses a day.

"She's quite the little cook, I know Diesel likes to sneak out and come over to here to eat dinner, whenever I make dinner," Carlos chuckled, sitting down at the breakfast bar, "It's nice to see Diesel around children his own age, and it's nice to see that he's in such good company."

"Heidi's smart and she's a good girl, I should know, I helped raise her," Stephanie said, popping the tops off of the beers she put down, "Diesel, is a bit brash, and sounds pretty uneducated."

"Yeah, he had a….rough start in life," Carlos said, watching Heidi instruct Diesel how to the set the table, "I got him almost seven months ago, and he didn't know much, but I'm changing that, he's learning and he's picking up things pretty fast."

"Good," Stephanie said just as she saw the cat on Diesel's shoulder jump down and walk over to Bob, "Uh oh…."

"That's Oreo," Carlos said, with a chuckle, watching the cat bat at a confused looking Bob, "She's pretty bad ass."

Stephanie watched the cat jump up on Bob's back and sit down on him, as if she owned him and snorted, "Dumb dog, but he's our dumb dog…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Mmm, this steak is cooked perfectly," Diesel moaned, tearing into his meal, "Heidi can you cook like this for me all the time, this is better than Carlos's rabbit food!"

Carlos gave Diesel a look, making Stephanie and Heidi laugh out loud, "Diesel, I'm only trying to feed you healthy foods."

"Rabbit food!" Diesel said, picking up a chicken wing and eating it, "Mmm, Chicken is so yummy!"

"What else do you do, besides bounty hunting?" Stephanie asked, picking up a kabob of shrimp and eating off of it, "It must be something better than that."

"I own several security firms named Rangeman," Carlos said, cutting his chicken, "In fact, we live across from Rangeman Trenton, that brick building, I co-own it, you two are welcome to it anytime, there's a gym and several well trained men in there, should you ever feel the need to be protected."

"I'm charmed," Stephanie deadpanned, drinking her beer, "I feel so protected now…."

"If you ever get bored with bounty hunting, I could offer you a job at Rangeman," Carlos said, looking at Stephanie, "You're very good at what you do, I could always use someone like you on our team."

"And push papers, I don't think so!" Stephanie said, waving her shrimp around, "Boring, I love action and adventure! You can't give me that in an office."

Carlos smiled and said, "There are some jobs that are outside the office, I can make sure that you get some action."

"I'll think about it," Stephanie said, turning to watch the children interact, "I can't believe it, friends for almost a week, and she has him eating out the palm of her hand."

Carlos shook his head and watched as Diesel quickly got up and went to get the cake that Heidi was too lazy to get up and retrieve, "You'll have to watch out for that one, Babe, she's going to have boys following her like lost puppies."

"Don't I know it," Stephanie sighed, finishing her beer, "I'll have to watch out for her, luckily, I choose a private school to shuck her in, that stupid Rosewood Academy, she'll enjoy her time there."

"No kidding," Carlos said, looking over to Stephanie, "Diesel's going there too, I hope he doesn't get kicked out during the first week of school, I paid top dollar to get him there with no questions."

"Humans, they're such fickle creatures, throw money at them and they'll do anything you ask of them," Stephanie said, looking over to Carlos, a smile on her face.

"Yeah they do, but I'm not one of those fickle creatures," Carlos joked, just as Bob jumped up on the table and grabbed his chicken, "Babe…"

"I know, I know, we're going to train him soon," Stephanie sighed, placing her head and in her hand, "Crazy ass dog…"

"Carlos, Diesel," Heidi said looking up from cutting the cake, "Did you hear about the killings lately…scary, those poor women."

Diesel nodded his head and looked over to Stephanie and Carlos, "20 women in the span of a week, I wonder what's going to make some crazy ass person gut a woman like a fish?"

"Maybe he's trying to be Jack the Ripper," Stephanie said, eating the slice of cake in front of her, "Which isn't a good thing, you know."

"Jack the who?" Diesel asked, looking over to Carlos, "Hey man, who the hell is this Jack the Tipper."

"Jack the Ripper, Diesel, and I see I'll have to make sure that Tank has an extra hour or so with you for history lessons," Carlos said, making Diesel bang his head on the table.

"Shit!"

"Anyways," Carlos said, turning to Diesel and Heidi, "Jack the Ripper was a serial killer in England, during the 19th century; he used to target prostitutes and kill them by gutting and stabbing their abdomens. A brutal and horrific string of deaths, the murderer was never caught."

"It's gotten so bad that that bone head Morelli got called in," Diesel said, around a mouthful of cake, "Sargent Morelli, who let that idiot get power?"

"Morelli and I butt heads all the time," Carlos said, with a casual shrug, looking over to Stephanie, "He thinks that my job isn't legal but we all know he's about as straight as a circle when it comes to his job. It's like you said, Stephanie, throw a little money at the problem, and it goes away, with Morelli, if you got the right amount of money, you can get away with murder."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Experiment 21 was a bust….in the same environment as the last 20 experiments; the eggs did not meet minimum requirements. If one wants to bring back an ancient race, one must do so in the right environment."

The person sat down on a stool and wrote down all that they stated. What had once been a family hobby, now became their life and passion. A great-great-great relative or so wrote down in a journal about a race of super humans that instantly went extinct, demons. Along with historical accounts about said demons, their ancestor left samples of male demon sperm that had been kept persevered in one of the demons preservation containers, a relic in itself. If they could strip the human egg of any human DNA and replace it with demon DNA, then they could bring back the powerful race and use them to take over the world.

Perhaps it was time to use the other contraption that was passed down to them, a detector of some sort, used to find compatible eggs to create powerful demons. This detector was created after the first near fall of the demons to help raise the population. The detector it wasn't used during the second and mass extinction of demons, due to the legend that the demons were wiped out instantly.

"Well one more experiment and then we'll use the detector, though I doubt I'll find a female with eggs powerful enough to re-create the demon race…."

It doesn't hurt to test it out, but for now, he had one more experiment to do….

TBC….

* * *

_Next chapter, a few more characters are introduced and the plot thickens!_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 enjoy!

Warning: Mentions of Violence, Bad Joe

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Enjoy! Please review, for every review a Ranger gets his Babe :3

* * *

_Chapter 12_

_Guardian_

_Adam and Eve_

"As of right now, we have no suspects in this string of murders," Joseph H. Morelli stated to the group of journalist standing before the Trenton PD podium, "We are looking diligently for the one or ones responsible for these horrendous crimes. Let this serve as a warning for the ones responsible for these crimes: You will not get away with, we'll find you and bring you to justice."

"Sergeant Morelli, are the rumors about you being sold out to mafia true?" A reporter asked, looking at the man, "There has been sufficient evidence linking you to missing contraband from a major shake down."

"There was an internal investigation about that and I was cleared of all wrong doing, why dig up old dirt, when there are current events occurring, now this press conference is over, if you have any comments or questions, please contact the Police department's PR, thank you."

Joe walked past the people shouting questions at him and made his way back into his large private office. He closed and locked the door behind him and cursed softly. The fucker, tossing those fucking bodies all over the damn place, like Trenton was a fucking dump!

Joe walked over to his desk and sat down, smirking at the blue envelope that sat on his desk. It was unmarked and sealed closed with tape, but Joe knew what was inside of it. Joe grabbed the envelope and opened it, taking 30,000 dollars' worth of 100 dollar bills. Joe chuckled and said softly, "He might treat the place like a dump, but at least he pays well."

Joe put the envelope in his backpack and leaned back in his seat. Being Sergeant of the Trenton PD was cakewalk, he didn't have to deal with street shit and the chief covered his ass all the time, since he had gone to L.A. and became a hot shot detective and all that shit. Here, in Trenton he had connections and if you had the money, you could do anything you wanted to do. Joe was making more money letting people get away with crime than he did cleaning the streets up from crime.

Joe looked thoughtfully at the reports in front of him, 20 prostitutes, dead. Good riddance, in Joe's book. Prostitutes were good for only one thing, and that was fucking, they were the lowest form of human beings, next to coke heads and gang members. So what 20 whores were dead, that was 20 less prostitutes to throw into jail, at the expense of the tax payers. Most of the dead sluts were runaways and drug addicts, none of them were trying to make things better for themselves, just hook and look for the next fix. He didn't know why people were kicking up dirt about this, they were nobodies, nothing, in the eyes of society. He had to save face, though, that fucking reporter had to talk about his connections to the Mafia. If the Internal Affairs weren't bought and sold by Joe himself, he would have been up shit's creek without a paddle. He would have to make a scene about the next victim of the serial killer, even though the killer was paying him a hefty sum to pick and choose whatever prostitute they wanted.

Joe looked up from his musing as his police radio went off.

"Possible victim of the serial killer found in Sandalwood Park, off of Hamilton Street, in critical condition, in bound to Trenton Hospital for severe stab wounds to the abdomen."

Joe got up with a heave and fixed his shirt, going over to his locked door, time to play the part.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Holy shit, three training sessions and your dog is still dumb," Diesel laughed, watching Bob roll around in the grass, biting at his leash, "Man, he can't even touch Oreo, she's a better dog than your dog!"

Oreo was lounging on Diesel's shoulders, with a leash and harness attached to her. Diesel found out that his cat loved to go outdoors and loved it even more when he took out on walks. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if she could learn tricks.

"Shut up, Diesel!" Heidi pouted, glaring at the boy, "Bob is to a smart dog, maybe he's so smart that he finds these stupid hat tricks dumb!"

"Hat tricks?!" Diesel boomed, laughing again, "Okay, Oreo and I are going to show you hat tricks. Oreo, you ready to school this dog?"

Oreo perked up at the sound of her name and then let out a soft mew as Diesel placed her on the grass. Diesel gave her a smile and said, "Okay, Oreo, sit!"

Oreo sat down and looked up at Diesel, who let out a big whoop and smiled smugly at Heidi. Heidi turned to Bob and said, "Bob!"

"WOOF!" Heidi yelped as Bob attacked her with licks, pushing her to the ground. Heidi let out a hiss and then pushed the dog off her, glaring at Diesel who was on his knees laughing hard. Heidi stood up and said, in a serious voice, "Bob, sit!"

Bob let out another bark and then jumped up on Heidi again, licking her face. Heidi sighed and then pushed the dog off her saying, "Bob! We're trying to show this boy that we mean serious business! Can you at least try for me?!"

Bob tilted his head to the side and then lay on the grass rolling around on it. Heidi sighed and then said, "Bob, lay down!"

Bob let out another bark and jumped up knocking Heidi down again and licking her face. Diesel laughed out loud and then turned to his cat, "Oreo, lay down."

Oreo fell to her stomach and looked up at Diesel, purring. Heidi hissed softly and then turned to Bob, who forced her on her back and place his whole body on her. Diesel chuckled and picked Oreo up saying, "See, Heidi, Oreo is a way better dog than Bob and she's not even the right species…"

"Bob, you're fired!" Heidi snapped, tossing Bob off her, "Okay, fine, your dog is better than my dog…at least he can fetch!"

Heidi picked up the rope toy she had dropped and then threw it shouting, "Go get it Bob!"

Bob fell to the ground with a huff, his tail wagging and his head on his paws, looking over to Heidi who huffed and puffed, stomping over to the rope toy and picking it up, storming back over to the trio. Heidi pointed a finger at Diesel, shutting him up before rounding on Bob, "You…dog! OH! I'm trying to prove that you're not dumb, but what do you do? You make life so hard, when I throw the toy you catch it, and to think I let you eat my leftover cherry pie!"

"You gave that to Bob?!" Diesel asked, giving Heidi a sad look, "I wanted it!"

"Shut up, you!" Heidi said, glaring at Diesel, "I'm giving Bob a lecture and you're not helping, anyways! I do all this for you and what do you do? Nothing you just lick me and eat Stephanie's good shoes, the ones I picked out for her and the ones she does wear! I'm going to take you home and give you a bath, because I know you hate it!"

Heidi grabbed Bob's leash and just as she did, Bob perked up, sniffed the air and then he was off, dragging Heidi with him. Heidi let out a scream and shouted, "DIESEL….COME GET THIS CRAZY DOG!" As she was dragged over the grass and down the grassy knoll.

"Holy shit," Diesel said, before he ran off after Heidi and Bob, "I'm coming Heidi! Hold on!"

He followed Bob's barks and Heidi screams until he tripped on one of Heidi's lost shoe and fell forward, tumbling down the same hill. He landed with a thud at the bottom, his face pressed against something soft. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at pink and black colored panties…Heidi panties to be exact. He had landed with his face against Heidi's bottom, who lay on her stomach, her bottom raised and Bob's leash tangled in her arms. Diesel let out a yelp and said, "Hey now, this is a public place, no need for-"

"Diesel, I think we need to call for help," Heidi said in a soft voice, her head raised and her eyes looking ahead of her, "I know we need to call for help…"

Diesel looked over to where Heidi was staring and froze, whispering, "Holy fuck…."

There laying near the bushes was a woman, covered in blood from her head to her toes. Diesel would have thought her dead, if it wasn't for that fact that her chest was rising rapidly. Diesel placed a hand on Heidi's shoulder and said, "I'll go for help, stay here."

Heidi nodded her head and then Diesel was off, racing up the hill and over to the townhouse, shouting for Lester and Carlos. Heidi crawled over to the woman and said, "Oh goodness, there's so much blood, I don't know if I should do this but…"

Heidi placed a hand on the woman's arm and watched as a soft blue light covered her frame, healing her wounds. Heidi jerked back quickly as she heard Diesel yell out, "Heidi, I got Lester, he's called for the ambulance, is she still alive?!"

Heidi watched the woman's chest rise and fall before saying, "Yeah! Hurry Diesel! She's in real bad shape!"

Diesel slid down the hill and moments later, was beside Heidi. He let out a hiss at the sight of Heidi's upturned dressed and said, "Ah…your panties are showing…." His face red.

Heidi yelped and grabbed at her dress and pulled it down. She gave Diesel and glare and said, "Pervert, there's a dying woman here and all you can say is that my panties are showing, Pervert!"

"Look, I'm just trying to be nice, you don't want the whole damn world to see your panties now, do you?!" Diesel asked, waving his hands in the air.

"Hey kiddos," Lester said, walking down the hill, "The ambulance is here, they'll be down soon, damn, looks like she survived the serial killer."

The paramedics were at the bottom of the hill in seconds, lifting the woman up on the stretcher and hooking her up to medical instruments and the like and then they were off taking her to the ambulance. Diesel, Heidi and Lester followed behind them, when the paramedics stated that the cops wanted to take a statement from Diesel and Heidi.

"Shit!" Lester sighed as he caught sight of the cops at the park entrance, "It's Morelli, Diesel, don't say anything too bad, he'll drag you to jail, again."

"The last time that fucker did that, I took a chunk out of his arm," Diesel said, looking over to Heidi, "I don't think you have anything to worry about, I heard that he likes anything with a vagina, especially if they're cute."

Lester pulled Heidi close to him and said to Diesel, "That's the problem, isn't it?"

Heidi gave both men a confused look, as they looked over her head to give one another knowing looks, what in the hell were they talking about?

The cop in question was waiting for them by a nice looking black car. He looked impatient and was tapping his foot, but the look of irritation faded when he caught sight of Heidi. Heidi felt Lester squeeze her arm slight and she felt Diesel get closer to her.

"So, you're the one who found the victim?" The man asked Heidi, earning a head nod, "Did you see anyone leave her there?"

"No," Heidi said, shrugging her shoulders, "I was walking my dog and then he dragged me down the hill and I found her, near some bushes, I hope she's going to pull through it was horrible with what happened to her."

"Yes well-" The man started but was cut off as a ball of yellow fluff bounded over to the group and stood in front of Heidi, growling and snarling at him.

"Bob!" Heidi said with a smile, grabbing the leash, "I thought you were gone for good, or at least back at home…Bob, calm down, he's just a cop…"

"Yeah Bob," The man said, crouching down to pet the dog, "I'm just a nice-"

Bob growled and snapped at the hand in front of him, the man stuck his hand back and mumbled, "Stupid dog…"

"Get a muzzle for that beast!" The man said, glaring at Lester and Diesel, and then turning his attention back to Heidi, "So, pretty lady, where do you live?"

"I live-" Heidi started but Diesel snapped, "None of your business, you piece of shit!"

The gave Diesel a not so nice chuckle and said, "Oh, the uneducated piece of trash, I guess those five hours in the holding cell didn't help you remember that I can do it again…."

Heidi felt uneasy as the cop's eyes drifted back to her frame, slowly milking her in. the cop's tongue slid out and licked at lips and those eyes darkened with something Heidi had never seen before. It was as though the man wanted to eat her, but worse. She wanted Stephanie here to protect her, where was her Stephanie?!

"Since you won't tell me where you live, princess," The cop said, grabbing Heidi's shoulders and squeezing it slightly, "I'll take you with me to the station and I can interrogate you-"

The man stopped talking as the tip of a sword poked him in his cheek. The man looked up and heard a low, "You get your filthy hand off my charge, before I cut your fucking head off…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Joe Morelli looked up from the hot piece of tail he was about to lead into his car only to see another hot piece of tail, but this one was a little more dangerous, for fuck's sake, she had a sword jabbing him in the fucking jaw!

Joe stood up and moved away from the girl, who quickly ran over to the woman and hugged her middle, burying her face in the woman's shoulder. Joe hid a sneer and almost chuckled, oh yeah, that hot piece of tail would be his, he would find out all her information and then catch her at the right time. So what if she was underage, that made it all better because she wouldn't run for help or tell, young teenage girls were impressionable at this time and they were easy to manipulate. She would be like the others he had; she would never tell a soul and even if she did, he'd bring her up on some false charges and make sure she never saw daylight again.

Joe took a look at the woman in front of him and paused, a frown on his face. Why did it seem like he knew that woman from somewhere, like Joe had seen her before. It was like having Déjà vu but worse, he knew her from somewhere, but he didn't know, and it was irking him that he didn't know. Those blue eyes…they made him dig deep into his mind, where had he seen blue eyes like that?

"Touch her again," The woman said, jabbing Joe with the sword, "And I'll see to it you know the meaning of true pain."

Joe gave the woman a frown and said, "Threatening an officer, I see, I could-"

"Not an officer, but a man, trying to prey on a little girl," The woman snapped, lowering her sword, "You make me sick, if I ever see you around my girl again…."

The woman left the threat unfinished but Joe knew she meant business. He turned his attention to the two men, watching the punk snicker at him. Joe gave the boy a look, one the boy returned and then turned on his feet and went to get in his car, he would deal with the woman later, he would see to it that girl would get some quality time with Joe, he loved the untouchables, and she was officially the forbidden fruit, and that fruit always tasted sweet to Joe.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Fucker," Stephanie sighed, sheathing her sword and then looking to Heidi, "Are you okay? Shit, I thought I wasn't going to make it in time…"

"I'm fine," Heidi said in Stephanie's shoulder, "It's just that, that man sure was acting creepy, it was like he wanted to eat me, or something."

"Something's right," Stephanie said, turning to Heidi and hugging her tight, "You stay away from that man, remember that story Grandma Mazur told? Well, it looks like he hasn't been spared by the Morelli Genes, it might be worse in him."

"I don't see why we're talking about Jeans," Diesel said, grunting as Oreo jumped on his shoulders, "We should be worrying about that lady who got all slashed up!"

"Well, if you're that worry, let's go to the hospital and check up on her," Lester said, holding out his keys, "I'll go lock up the place and we can head over there now."

"Good," Heidi said, leading Bob back to the house, "I hope she's still alive."

"Take that Jack the Tipper, one of your victims got away!" Diesel said, with a chuckle, earning a sigh from Lester.

"It's Jack the Ripper and wrong century…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Is she going to be alright?" Heidi asked the doctor, looking over to the woman, who lay in the hospital bed, connected to all kinds of tubes, "It looks so horrible!"

"She'll be in the hospital for a few weeks, but other than that, she'll be fine," The doctor reassured Heidi, looking at the woman's chart, "There is a problem, though, our Jane Doe doesn't have any family members we can release her to, and I really don't want to release her on her own, I'll make a call to the women's shelter and see what I can do."

"Don't worry about calling them," Stephanie said, to the doctor, hanging her phone up, "My grandma offered her place, since she has plenty of free time. She can take care of our Jane Doe here."

"Wonderful," The doctor said, smiling at Stephanie and Heidi, "I wish there were more people out there who would do something like this."

"So, is she the only surviving victim of the serial killer?" Lester asked, crossing his arms.

"The wounds she has on her body are exactly like that of all the other victims, it seemed that her…reproductive organs were taken out, but she managed to escape a much worse fate. She's lost a lot of blood; we've patched her up, but only time will heal her now."

"I'll call to see if she can have security near her room, maybe the killer will come back and try to finish her off," Lester said, taking his phone out, "We don't want to take chances."

"You don't believe that the killer will come back to finish what he started, do you?" Heidi asked Diesel, who shrugged his shoulders and looked at the adults.

"If I were the killer, and I'm not, I wouldn't want to leave behind witnesses…am I right?"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

What started out as a bad day turned in a good day, a great and wonderful day, in fact! Experiment 21 managed to escape their grasp but they had left her in severe shape, they had thought the prostitute, who called herself Lula, would have died from her wounds. Somehow, she managed to survive and not only that got rushed to the hospital. They would have to contact the Sergeant that they had in their back pocket and make him take care of Ms. Lula. For now, they had bigger and better things to do!

For one thing, they had found the perfect creature with the perfect eggs to create demons with. They had gone to the park to finish off the prostitute, when the detector, the one that found the perfect eggs, went off, shining a bright white. It was in the direction of a woman and a girl. When they pointed it to the woman, the light had dimmed but it didn't go out like all the other times. She could be a nice carrier, she could repopulate the demon race. When they pointed it to the girl, the light had shone brightly and the detector had vibrated violently, before cracking in their hands. Perfect….never would they have thought that they would find a female who would, without fail, repopulate the demon race. They had been so happy with their find that when the broken detector turned black, which was a sign that a demon was around, they nearly fainted. The boy, the one that was close to the girl, was a demon, not a half blood or quarter blood, but a full blooded demon. They would stop at nothing to get the pair, this was their chance, what their family had been trying to achieve for years!

"Adam and Eve…but this time, it's with demons, such a fitting name to give the two who will help me raise such a powerful army…"

TBC….

* * *

If you hate Joe, after reading this chapter, good, I meant to write him as an evil dude, cause I can :3


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13, enjoy!

Warning: none

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Enjoy! Please review? owo

* * *

_Guardian_

_Chapter 13_

_Placement_

"This is not a graded test," The woman said, in front of the small group of teenagers, "This is just a way for us to see how much you know, and where we should class you, if you score high enough, you'll be placed in the Junior College classes, if you don't score the minimum, well I'm afraid you won't be attending Rosewood Academy."

Diesel rolled his eyes and folded his arms up and put his head in them. where in the hell did his summer go? Here it was just two weeks before classes began and he was at the snooty school, taking a stupid placement test, a test he knew that he was going to fail, since because fuck school that's why. Oh well, so much for all that money Carlos paid, he would-

"I know this is for the Senior placement, the 8th grade placement is ridiculous," A voice said outside the door, making Diesel smile into his arm, "Shut up, I'll have you know, I was taught by the best tutors, so shush and let me in!"

"Ah, there's my girl," Diesel rumbled as he looked up and saw Heidi come barging into the placement testing room, her head held high and her hands on her hips, "Hello Heidi."

"Diesel," Heidi said, picking up a testing booklet, "I'm here to get into the senior class!"

"I see," Diesel chuckled, watching Heidi sit beside him, "Good luck!"

So much for him failing, Heidi was right beside him, sweet, with her, he could get a perfect score and get into that Junior college program, or whatever. Diesel sat up and grabbed his pen, his eyes discreetly looking at Heidi's test, which was quickly being filled by the girl. Damn child geniuses…

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I don't believe this test," Carlos said, looking over to Diesel, "You scored a 95 percent? How in the hell did you do that?"

"Hey, I did study for this test, you know," Diesel said with a smile, crossing his arms, "I know you want me to get a good education, so I did my best, and now I'm going to be with all the egg heads!"

Carlos patted Diesel's back and said, "Good for you, Diesel, at least you're trying to make things better for you, see, I told you, that this would be good for you, come on, let's go out and celebrate with Stephanie and Heidi. Heidi took the same test as you, and got a perfect score, I know Stephanie is happy about that."

"I'm sure she is," Diesel said, as Carlos called Stephanie, "Where we going out to?"

"Pizza," Carlos said, shaking his head, "As if you need to eat that fattening food."

"Enough with all that crazy talk," Diesel said, picking up Oreo and cuddling her, "Pizza is good for the soul! You can eat your dumb salad, while the rest of us eat that nice cheesy pizza, I'm going out to go work on my baby, call me when it's time to go."

Carlos looked down at Diesel's test booklet and sighed, he couldn't believe that the kid actually managed to get into the competitive program. Maybe Diesel was turning around, maybe he was growing up finally and taking responsibility, like he should. Carlos could finally admit that Diesel was acting like a-

"YOU USED ME IN YOUR DUPLICITOUS WAYS!" Heidi's voice boomed from the garage area, "You cad! I ought to throttle you!"

"But then again, maybe he hasn't grown up," Carlos said, as he got up and walked out into the garage, where Heidi stood, her hands on her hips looking over Diesel, who was hiding behind the 1965 motorcycle Lester gave to him to fix up, "Okay, what's going on?"

"I came over to confront Diesel about his cheating ways!" Heidi said, turning to Carlos, "Carlos, you have Diesel's test, did he get number 34, 12 and 45 wrong?"

Carlos flipped through Diesel's test and said, "He did get those wrong…"

"AH HA!" Heidi said, rounding on Diesel, "You cad! I intentionally put the wrong answers down and when you left, I changed them! You cheater, how can you expect to get through school if you copied my answers!?"

"I didn't want to take the stupid test anyways," Diesel said, going back to fixing his motorcycle, "Besides, if you won't help me through the classes, I'll get some other egghead to help me, ain't nothing better than an egg head with low self esteem!"

"You are the most vile boy I've ever met!" Heidi exclaimed, slapping Diesel's shoulder, "You…you…you CAD!"

Heidi puffed up and then walked out of the garage and over to her house. Diesel shook his head and said, "Can you believe her, me a cat, ha! She keeps calling me a stupid cat, like it hurts me or something."

"You two have the most dysfunctional relationship I've ever seen," Carlos said, walking over to Diesel and grabbing one of his ears, "But, while we're on the subject of you and Heidi, let's talk about that cheating you just did, come with me young man, no video games, no motorcycle and no computer for a month."

"Fuck!" Diesel swore as Carlos dragged him into the house, "Hey now, come on man! I feel some remorse, and you want to talk about dysfunctional?! You should look at you and Stephanie, she tried to hack your head off the other day-ACK!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"What's gotten up both your butts today?" Edna asked Stephanie and Heidi, watching them prowl around the living room, "I'm used to seeing one of you angry but not both of you."

"Men…" Stephanie and Heidi said together, before Stephanie turned to Heidi and said, "Go."

"Diesel cheated on the entrance exam into Rosewood Academy and he used me in his nefarious plot!" Heidi said crossing her arms, "That piece of work…that..that CAD! Go!"

"And then the cad's mentor," Stephanie said, sitting down, "Has been coming over all the damn time and it's getting on my nerves! He snuck up on me and I nearly took his head off, I should have done it too, arhg! I hate men, why do we live beside two of the worst pricks ever!?"

"Your guess is as good as mine!" Heidi sighed, sitting beside Stephanie and burying her head in the woman's elbow, "Stupid poopie heads."

Edna shook her head and said, "Well, it seems you two have your hands full, I got a call from the doctors and our Jane Doe is showing signs of improving and she'll be able to leave the hospital maybe at the end of next week."

"Good," Stephanie said, sitting up and smiling, "At least there's some good news there, do you need anything, Grandma Mazur? I can get some things for her, while she's here, you know basic things."

"It's alright, I went out and got some things for her," Edna said, getting up and going into the kitchen, "Some toiletries and the like, she'll be fine for a while with what I got her."

"What about security?" Stephanie asked, as Edna came back with cake and milk, "We think that the serial killer will come back and finish what he started, I don't want you in harm's way."

"It's okay, the man you were talking about, Carlos offered to give me security for me and my house guest, we'll be fine," Edna said, passing out cake, "Now, what's this about my great grandbaby and her school?"

"Oh, well, Heidi was supposed to go to the 8th grade, but she claimed the 8th grade entrance exam was too easy for her and went to take the senior entrance exam and got a perfect score on it," Stephanie said, watching Heidi puff up with pride, "a 13 year old with a bunch of 16 and 17 year olds, she's going to mop the floor with them."

Heidi smiled broadly at the two women and said, "I'm so smart, I know!"

"Well, have you thought about colleges?" Edna asked, looking at Stephanie and Heidi, "I know they'll be lining up to get to you."

Heidi blinked and then said, "College? I doubt I would be allowed to go, once you know who returns."

"Let's not think about them," Stephanie said, wrapping an arm around Heidi, "For now, I need to take you to get measured for your uniform, and yes you will be wearing one, it'll be a nice environment for you."

"Uniforms?" Heidi asked, looking over to Stephanie, "Bleh…I'm not wearing that stupid uniform! You can't make me!"

"I can and I will," Stephanie said, leaning over to Heidi and plucking her nose, "Now, eat your cake, we have to go in a bit."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"This ain't fair!" Diesel whined, as he worked on an essay, "Why do I have to write this long ass apology note to Heidi, it's not like I affected her in any way."

"You cheated on your entrance exam and you used Heidi's test to do it," Carlos said as his phone began to ring, "So, you're writing this letter and then you're going to have to help her around the house until school begins, which is in two weeks."

Carlos ignored the loud groan from Diesel and answered the phone with a quick, "Talk."

"Your phone manners are subpar," Toga said to Carlos, chuckling softly, "I've called to let you know that I've found a new place to hide my two charges, in a matter of months, it should be well protected and this time, I have your agency to help me."

"Good," Carlos said, walking out the dining room and into his private office, "I take it, you'll want Diesel when it's all said and done?"

"No, I can't take him away from his Alpha, that'll cause problems, I'll come to you and train him, and then I'll go find my charges, I hope Diesel is prepared to learn how to use a sword."

"He'll be ecstatic," Carlos laughed out loud, sitting down, "Speaking of swords, I nearly got my head chopped off with one the other day, the woman with the sword... she was a bit feisty but, what can I say, I love them when they're-"

"Does this woman have a child with her?" Toga asked suddenly, "Maybe around Diesel's age?"

"Yeah, a girl, she's a sweetheart and a good cook, Diesel's-" Carlos started but Toga stopped him.

"Keep a good eye on those two for me, would you?" Toga asked, making Carlos look at his phone.

"They're your charges, aren't they," Carlos said, earning a grunt from Toga, "Don't worry about them, they'll be well protected with Diesel and I, I swear on it."

"I know they will, but please, keep a good eye out for them, they're both slippery as eels when they want to be," Toga said, before he sighed and said, "Don't tell them that you're watching out for them too, keep it a secret okay?"

"I got it," Carlos said, looking outside the window to his office, "I'll keep them out of harm's way."

"That's good to hear, I must go now, Jeanne is a bossy woman," Toga said earning a chuckle from Carlos.

"Don't I know it, but she's your responsibility now," Carlos said, just as Toga hung up the phone with a hiss, "Have fun, Toga."

Carlos got up from his desk and went back to the dining room where Diesel sat, mumbling about writing stupid letters. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and said, in a serious voice, "Watch over Heidi, when you two are in school, you can have your video games and the like back, but you keep a careful eye on the girl, when she's not around Stephanie or me."

"Got it," Diesel said, looking up from the letter, "It must be because of that damn Morelli, right? Heidi caught his eye and now the asshole wants to fuck her."

Great, just what Carlos wanted to hear, a child predator was trying to get to Heidi. Carlos doubted that Morelli would get close to her, Stephanie would kill him if he did, but that doesn't mean the man would stop trying to get to Heidi. Morelli was like a dog with a bone, when it came to women, no matter their age and Carlos would have to make calls to make sure that Heidi was never alone.

"Yes," Carlos said, making Diesel grunt, "You make sure that Morelli stays clear of Heidi, Stephanie would chop his head off if he even looked at the girl."

"I got it, captain," Diesel said with a mock salute, "Does that mean I don't have to write the letter and be a slave to Heidi?"

"Oh no, you still do, you're not getting out of that," Carlos said, glaring at the boy, "You cheated and I'll tell you one thing, cheaters never prosper."

"Oh Carlos," Heidi said, walking into the dining room holding a plate of cookies, "I made some cookies for you, oatmeal raisin, none for Diesel, he has to earn my cooking again."

"Fuck," Diesel sighed, looking over to the plate of cookies, "I hate oatmeal raisin, but they look so damn good…"

Carlos took the cookies from Heidi and said, "I guess you're here for Diesel."

"I am! We got a bookcase that needs to be put up and Stephanie is out again, the woman we saved is awake and Stephanie and Grandma Mazur went to check on her, leaving me by myself."

"Diesel's all yours madam," Carlos said, earning a squeal from Heidi and a moan from Diesel, "I don't want him back until you're good and done with him."

"Oh, I have plenty of things for Diesel to do around the house, don't worry, I'll keep all night long then, there are so many things he can do for me!"

"Please…why?" Diesel whined as Heidi dragged him away.

Carlos chuckled softly and then leaned against the wall. There had to be a way to get closer to Stephanie, without making his intentions of protection known to her. She was smart as hell and could rat him out in a second. How could he protect her, without protecting her?

The answer came to him in a heartbeat. He pulled his phone out and called Tank, who answered with a quick, "Yo."

"Remember that client who came to us about missing money and products?" Carlos asked Tank earning a grunt from the man, "He wanted Rangeman to go undercover for him at his company, but he needed both a man and a woman to go undercover."

"Yup, you were going to call Jeanne Ellen, but she got sucked into something," Tank said making Carlos agree with him, "So, are you going to shuck it over to someone else?"

"No, tell our client we'll be ready to go undercover in a week, I have someone who could help us out," Carlos said, looking over to the wall that connected his townhouse to Stephanie's townhouse.

Now all that Carlos needed to do was tell Stephanie that she had a new temporary job, that won't be too hard.

Right?

* * *

Good luck Carlos! He's going to need it!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14! Enjoy. Sorry about the delay, went on a ski trip up to mountains in Japan and let me say, it was amazing! *o*

Warnings: none

Disclaimer in chapter 1

Please review?

* * *

_Guardian_

_Chapter 14_

_Two Shoes_

Diesel let out a huff, ignoring the lecture Heidi was giving him. Oh yeah, no more cheating, blah, blah, blah, if you always cheat you're never going to make it in life. God, for a cutie, she sure was a square, Diesel could bet money that Heidi never even broke the rules, just nod her pretty head and say, "Okay Stephanie, anything you say goes!"

Bleh…

"Now, Diesel are you listening to me?" Heidi asked, her hands on her hips and one of her hands holding the instructions to the desk he was putting up, "What did I tell you?"

"That you're a square and a stickler to the rules," Diesel said, tossing the screw driver he had down on the ground, "Holy shit, woman, do you hear yourself, you sound like someone's mother, you're only 13 or 14, whatever!"

Heidi drew back from Diesel and whispered, "You think I'm old? I'm not old, I'm just…."

"Just what?" Diesel asked, standing up and looking down at Heidi, "A goody two shoes? Well guess what, you are! Stephanie tells you jump and you jump twice as high cause she said so, I bet you couldn't even piss without asking for permission."

Heidi's face heated up and Diesel watched, with satisfaction, as she puffed up and said, "I'm not a goody two shoes, and I know I don't Stephanie's permission to go to the bathroom!"

"Oh yeah?" Diesel asked, a feral smile crossed his lips, "Prove it, meet me down the street, you know, close to the plaza strip, at midnight, tonight, we're going to have us some nighttime fun."

"Midnight fun?" Heidi asked, as Diesel turned away from her and got back to putting the desk together, "What kind of midnight fun are you talking about?"

"You'll see, Kitten," Diesel said with a wink, cursing loudly as he tried to put the desk together, "Fucking A mang, why did you have to buy a dumbass IKEA desk?!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"You're looking a little busted up, Vinnie," Stephanie commented to her cousin, watching the man nurse a black eye, "What happened to you?"

"None of your damn business," Vinnie snapped, but slapped a hand over the files Stephanie meant to pick up, "No need for you to pick up these files, Steph, these are all low bonds, in fact, I won't need you for a while, I got Joyce Barnhart, she's taking over."

"You mean your side piece, who has no taste in hair color and men?" Stephanie asked, earning a giggle from Connie, "Man, I wonder what your wife is going to say when she finds out that her needle dick husband is fucking Elmo?"

"Nothing, cause she's not finding out shit!" Vinnie said, pushing Stephanie out the bond's office, "You wanna know why, cause you're fired, at least for a while, that's why, don't come back until I say so!"

Stephanie yelped as Vinnie pushed her out the door and locked it behind her, giving her the finger. Stephanie gave him the finger right back and turned, only to crash into Carlos, who grabbed her before she could fall.

"Great," Stephanie muttered, standing up, "You! Just who I wanted to see, okay Carlos, leave me alone, I just lost my job, for awhile and now I need to go pick up a hobby."

"Oh, that's such a shame," Carlos said, wrapping an arm around Stephanie's waist, "For you, I mean, but actually, I have an offer for you, come with me, let's get some lunch, my treat."

"Now, hold on a minute," Stephanie said, slipping out of Carlos's grip, "You can't butter me up with food! What do you want?"

"I have a special case going on at my company," Carlos said, wrapping his arm around Stephanie's waist and leading her to her baby, "I need to go undercover at his company, apparently someone has been stealing millions of dollars' worth of merchandise and cash."

"Okay…and?" Stephanie asked, trying to dislodge Carlos's arm from her waist.

"I need a partner to go undercover with me, a woman," Carlos said, looking over to Stephanie, "I need for you to go undercover with me at this place."

"Oh, why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like what you're going to tell me next?" Stephanie asked Carlos, as he pulled her closer to him. It made Stephanie wrinkle her nose, Carlos smelled like male…

"We'll be posing as a married couple, it's only for a little bit, like…a month or so, give or take," Carlos said, earning a squawk from Stephanie.

"Only just a month or so?!" Stephanie exclaimed, her eyes wide, before she narrowed them, "You snake, you made Vinnie fire me, is that why he had a black eye today?"

"Babe, I have no idea what you're talking about," Carlos said, opening the door to Stephanie's car, "I just got here, to ask you a question…."

"You are such a liar!" Stephanie boomed just as Carlos placed her in the car, "You-you CAD!"

"Heidi's been rubbing off on you, I see," Carlos said, as he closed the car door, "Meet me at Rangeman at 1, and we'll go over the details!"

Stephanie fumed and kicked as Carlos walked off, that piece of shit! Just because he smelled like a nice man, didn't mean anything!

'He sure has a strong arm….' Stephanie's conscious said loudly, 'And you know the other arm is just as strong too…and he smelled good too…it's been to long since we've had sex, let's rape him!'

Stephanie felt her eyebrow twitch and then she said, "Just for that, mind, I'm going to think about the time we got hit on by the burly Bulgarian who was covered in gold chains!"

'You bitch…'

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I hope you like the bedsheets, Lula," Heidi said, helping the woman into the bed, "Grandma Mazur and I picked them out just for you, since you like animal prints and all."

Heidi looked over to Edna and Tank, the Rangeman that was with the three ladies today and bit her lip. Lula hadn't said a word since she woke up in the hospital. She was silent and like a brick wall. Heidi wondered if Lula was deaf, or mute, maybe she couldn't express herself because she was unable to oh goodness.

Edna, sensing Heidi's growing worry, placed a hand on Lula's shoulder and said, "Can we get you anything dear, some lunch or a drink for-"

"I ain't no damn charity case," Lula said, looking up at the three of them, with a fire in her eye, "I don't know why they wouldn't let me go, after I woke the hell up! I have a life I was livin' you know, it ain't much but I was living it!"

Edna and Heidi looked at one another before they turned to Tank, who nodded his head and chuckled.

"Oh no, missy, this isn't charity, you're going to work for your keep, here," Tank said crossing his arms, "You can help Edna keep house and then when you're 100 percent better, you can help around where I work, and we'll go from there. There're no handouts here, you got that?"

To Edna's and Heidi's amazement, Lula nodded her head and said, "Good, I ain't no welfare queen and I ain't going to start now."

"Never said you were," Edna said, with a smile, "Just some fellow human beings helping out one another."

"I'll take that lunch now," Lula said, wincing as she agitated the wounds on her stomach, "The food at the hospital was horrible, how can they feed us that slop!"

Edna and Tank left to fix Lula some lunch while Heidi settled down in the armchair close to the bed. She leaned forward and said, "How are you feeling now?"

"Like I've been stabbed and gutted," Lula said, but smiled at the girl in front of her, "I'm in a little pain, but the drugs they gave me are helping."

"Good," Heidi said, scooting closer to the woman, "I found you in the park a few weeks back, and I thought you were going to die before the paramedics got to us."

"I thought so too, but during that time, I felt some warmth, and it took away most of the big pain," Lula said, leaning back in the bed, "But that feeling went away quickly, I wished it had stayed."

"What are you going to do, once you're healed and have helped around?" Heidi asked, curling her legs under her frame, "Are you going to go back to prostitution?"

"I don't think so," Lula said, looking over to Heidi, a smile on her face, "This incident was a wake up call, I think I want to do better things with my life, don't know what, but anything's better than selling yourself."

"Maybe you'll do fine at Rangeman," Heidi said, just as Edna and Tank came back with Lula's lunch, "Oh, here's your lunch, I should be going, Stephanie will be here soon to take me to get measured for my stupid uniforms, bleh, see you later Lula, maybe when you're up and about too!"

Heidi got up from the armchair and made her way down the stairs, just as Stephanie came waltzing into the house, a scowl on her face. Heidi shook her head and said, "I don't want to know…"

"I have a new job," Stephanie said, grabbing Heidi's hand and dragging her out the house, "I'm working with Carlos…"

"Okay," Heidi said as she climbed into the Mercedes, "And you're angry because…"

"That bastard Carlos, he somehow scared that weasel Vinnie into firing me and now I'm working with him, on an undercover mission into some stupid couple retreat compound!"

"Oh, well, that sounds like fun!" Heidi said, looking over to Stephanie, "I bet you two are going to have play the part of a couple and kiss and hug one another!"

Stephanie gagged loudly and said, "Just because Carlos smells good and has nice muscles and is all male…"

Heidi frowned as Stephanie drifted off into her thoughts. She tapped the woman's shoulder and said, "Hello….earth to Stephanie!"

"No! I don't do rape!" Stephanie shouted, startling Heidi, "Oh, sorry, I mean…Uh…he's a jerk, no come on, let's get your uniforms."

"Okay…Lula's fine, if you're wondering, of course you are! She was the victim of a serial killer!" Heidi said brightly, making Stephanie look over to her, "At first she was hostile, because she thought that we were like giving her a handout, but then Tank got all Tank and he said that Lula would be working around Grandma Mazur's house and then at Rangeman with him. After that Lula got nice and chipper, I guess she doesn't want to be seen as a burden…I guess."

"Maybe," Stephanie said, shrugging, "But she's not a burden, we want to take care of her, humans, such fickle creatures…"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

It took Diesel a while to shake Carlos off his ass, but at 11:45, Carlos was off at Rangeman and Diesel was down at the end of the plaza strip, waiting for Heidi, whom he hope would chicken out on this night trip. That way he could rub it in her face that she was a cop out. Diesel chuckled and then turned his head as he heard Heidi's voice drift over to him.

"Okay, I'm here, Diesel, see, told you, I'm not a goody two shoes!" Heidi said smugly, crossing her arms and looking at Diesel, who nodded his head and walked over to his baby, the motorcycle he just finished fixing up, "Oh…what is that?"

"Our ride for the night," Diesel said, climbing on the motorcycle and holding up two helmets, "I told you, we're having some nighttime fun, hop on Kitten, we're going to have a hell of a night."

Heidi bit her lip, giving the motorcycle a serious look, before she squared her shoulders, gave Diesel a determined look and said, "Okay, let's do it, I want to ride!"

Diesel smiled as Heidi took the helmet from his hand and put it on. He helped tighten the strap and then he was putting his own helmet on, grunting as she wrapped her arms tightly around him. He told Heidi to hang on tight and then he revved up the engine to his bike, breaking the silence and then turned the light on. Diesel then kicked the stand up and roared down the street, Heidi behind him screaming right in his ear.

That was totally worth the hearing loss he'll incur from her screeching. Diesel drove down he empty road, until they were just outside of Trenton, he turned down a dirt road and they rode in silence for 40 minutes before Diesel pulled up to small pond that was only lit by a single light post. Diesel stopped the motorcycle and then pried Heidi's hands off his waist. He helped her off the bike and said, "Here we are, part one of our nighttime fun."

"A pond?" Heidi asked as Diesel led her over to the edge of the water, "I don't see how this is night time fun."

"Of course not, Miss Priss," Diesel said, looking over to Heidi, "We're going for a night swim! Come on now, take that dress off so you don't get it wet."

Diesel heard Heidi squeak and would have paid top dollar to see her face heat up like a light bulb. Heidi turned to Diesel and exclaimed, "Take my dress off?!"

"Yeah, unless you want to go swimming in it," Diesel said, unbuttoning his flannel shirt and tossing it off, "Come on, don't be a prude."

"I don't know how to swim," Heidi said, looking over to Diesel, "Is the pond deep?"

"It's pretty deep, but don't worry, I'll catch you, promise," Diesel said turning to Heidi as he shucked his shirt off and pulled his pants down, "Come on, don't be a wimp."

Heidi puffed up, like a kitten and then tossed off her dress and kicked off her shoes. In the only source of light, Diesel could see that Heidi had on a pair of blue panties and a matching bra. For a small thing she sure was endowed. Heidi gave Diesel a glare and said, "Stop ogling my breasts and get in the water!"

"Yes ma'am," Diesel said, turning away from Heidi and walking over to the pond and jumping in, "Holy shit! It's freezing! Well, come on, Goody two shoes, I'll catch, you, I promise!"

Heidi walked over to the edge of the pond, and dipped a toe in, squealing at the cold. She squawked loudly as Diesel splashed her with water and said, "Come on! Let's do this!"

Heidi watched as Diesel opened his arms out for her, a smile on his face. Heidi bit her lip and then, with a scream, jumped into the water. She had expected for the boy to say, "Jokes on you!" and let her sink like a rock, but Heidi felt strong arms wrap around her waist and then she was clutching tightly to Diesel, her arm wrapped around his neck. Heidi looked up at the boy who smiled and said, "See not that bad, right?"

"Right," Heidi said, nearly squealing as Diesel began to move, "What are you doing?"

"Swimming with you, Kitten," Diesel chuckled as, with ease, he swam with Heidi's weight on him, "It's no fun standing in one spot for the whole time."

Heidi closed her eyes as Diesel swam them around the small body of water. She clung tighter to Diesel as he pried her arm off his neck, "What are you doing?!"

"Trying to get you to enjoy yourself," Diesel said, letting Heidi grab at his forearms, "Okay, now relax and enjoy, I promise, I won't let you drown."

It took the girl a while but once she was used to the water, she was laughing and smiling at Diesel. It had the boy thinking that Heidi looked good when she was happy and carefree, when she let herself go. The light from the single lamp post did her no justice but she sure as hell looked good under it.

"Beautiful…" Diesel said, looking into Heidi's eyes and making the girl pause in her swimming.

"What?" She asked looking up at Diesel, "Hey now what's with that look…"

Diesel pulled Heidi to him and wrapped his arm around her waist he leaned forward and said, "You know, you look real good like, when you're happy and carefree."

"Really?" Heidi asked, biting her lip, "I thought I was carefree and happy all the time?"

"No, you're so full of tension, sometimes, gotta watch out for you," Diesel said, as they two of them drifted in the water, "It's like you're hiding something and it's getting to you."

"I'm not hiding anything," Heidi said, softly, pressing her hands to Diesel's bare chest, "It's just sometimes, breaking the rules isn't such a good idea, you know, things might happen…"

"I don't know what bad things might occur, but don't worry," Diesel said, his hands sliding up Heidi's side, "I'll protect you, promise."

"Okay," Heidi whispered, pressing her fingers into Diesel's chest, it amazed her to feel how hard his chest was, he was fit, "You won't cheat on my papers either, right?"

Diesel chuckled and said, "I can't promise you everything now, right?"

"Jerk," Heidi mumbled with affection, before they both settled into silence. They were quiet for a few moments, just looking at one another. Heidi didn't know if she had moved or if Diesel had moved because their faces were getting closer and closer, until their noses bumped one another, startling them. Heidi felt her face heat up and she said, in a quick voice, "I think I should get out the water now, I'm freezing."

"Yeah," Diesel said, leading Heidi over to the edge of the pond, "We should you know, get going, it's late like 4 in the morning, can you believe it? We've been swimming for three hours."

"Time flies when you're having fun," Heidi said, as she tossed her dress on, "Um, thanks for taking me out here, Diesel, I had a good time."

"I know you did," Diesel said, as he put his pants and shirt on, "How about we go to 7-11 and get a couple of microwave burritos and watch the sunrise."

"Okay," Heidi said, with dazzling smile as she and Diesel climbed onto the motorcycle, "I've never had a microwave burrito before."

"Well shit, you're in for a real treat!" Diesel said revving up the motorcycle and putting his helmet on, "Come on, orange juice goes good with a chicken and cheese burrito!"

As Heidi and Diesel made their way down the road, Heidi thought about the almost kiss she had with Diesel, had she really almost locked lips with the boy?! Holy shit…it wasn't like she had any way to compare kisses with anyone else, she never had a kiss before, all this love stuff was new to her. Oh goodness, what if they almost kiss again?! Eeep!

Heidi closed her eyes and tried not to think about it. She wrenched them open, however, when Diesel quickly jerked the motorcycle to the left. She squeezed Diesel's middle tightly and then the boy said, in a loud voice, "We got company, this jackass behind us is trying to clip us off the side of the road."

Heidi turned her head to see a black car zooming up on them. She let out a squeal as Diesel jerked the motorcycle again this time on the other side of the road. He curse loudly as he heard the car speed up almost hitting them. Diesel shouted at Heidi to hang on tight to him and when he felt her iron grip on hi waist, he was turning off the road and into a grassy field. He turned the light off to the motorcycle and drove through the field quickly until he made it to the edge of some trees. Once they were tucked inside the trees, Diesel killed the engine and pulled Heidi tight to him, whispering, "Don't make a sound, although that car was fast, it can't handle being off the road."

They sat on the motorcycle for a long time, listening for any car noises and the like before Diesel turned the engine on and, with caution, drove out the trees and field and back onto the road. The ride back into Trenton was a long and quiet one, with no crazy drivers trying to force them off the side of the road. Once they were back in Trenton, Diesel drove to the nearest 7-11, picked a few choice burritos and a large carton of orange juice and then drove Heidi to the park, where they sat and at burritos on top of the jungle gym, watching the sun rise. They spoke softly to one another and laughed at each other's comments. It was a good time for both children. Strangely, Heidi was sad when Diesel led her over to her townhouse, once he pushed his motorcycle near the garage.

"I had a good time, Diesel, besides the crazy car trying to kill us." Heidi said, with pure honesty, "Thanks for taking me out, can we do this again, maybe?"

"I'd like that," Diesel said, giving Heidi a dazzling smile, "Not so much of a goody two shoes after all, eh?"

"Who said I ever was?" Heidi asked, before she bit her lip and leaned forward and kissed Diesel's cheek, "Thanks, Thaddeus, have a good morning."

Heidi slipped into the townhouse and closed the door, all before Diesel could comment about the kiss. She smiled softly and then frowned saying, "Wait…why did I kiss his cheek!? Oh no…butterflies in my tummy, feeling faint, my goodness is this-"

"You sneaky snake!" Stephanie boomed from the kitchen entryway, "I go into your room at 1:20, thinking that you were all nice and sleeping and found that you're not there! Where the hell did you go?!"

"I uh…was with Diesel," Heidi said, as Stephanie walked over to Heidi and placed her hands on the girl's shoulder, "We just went out last night."

"Do you know how worried I was?!" Stephanie asked breathlessly, checking Heidi over, "There is a crazy woman out there, looking for you and you want to run off with your little friend? You-you-go upstairs, to your room, I don't want to see you for a while Heidi, you scared me last night, I was up all night worried for your safety, I thought someone had come in and taken you! I was so scare!"

Stephanie gave Heidi a quick hug and then pushed her to the stairs, "Go up there, I'll come get you, and then we'll talk."

Heidi turned to Stephanie and said, in a soft voice, "I'm sorry to have scared you, I didn't know you were so worried, I promise, no more night outs with Diesel."

"You're damn right," Stephanie said, with a weak chuckle, running a hand through her hair, "I'll bring you up some breakfast, go get some rest."

Heidi gave Stephanie a weak smile and made her way up to her room. She lay on her bed and sighed, looking out the window, apart from the car trying to mow them down, her night with Diesel went better than expected. Why did that car try to push them off the road, they hadn't done anything and the road had been empty, had she been the target of the person who had been driving the car? This was seriously scaring her now, to think, Diesel said she had nothing to worry about...yeah right.

"What's going on?" Heidi asked softly, burying her face in the pillows, "Why are there bad people after me? What's so special about me, except for a few gifts?"

TBC….

* * *

Next chapter is dedicated to Stephanie and Carlos going undercover and other exciting things! See you soon!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15! Enjoy, updates are going to be a slow process this semester, since I've so much on my plate and if feels as though it's all due at once!

Warnings: none

Disclaimers in chapter 1

Enjoy!

* * *

_Guardian_

_Chapter 15_

_Teen Angst_

* * *

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Stephanie sighed, leaning back in the conference chair, and looking over to Carlos, "Why did I say yes?"

"Because, you were bored, since Vinnie fired you," Carlos said, as his men entered the conference room and sitting down at the table, "Don't worry, you'll be getting a nice fat paycheck soon."

"I'm not doing this for a paycheck," Stephanie said, crossing her arms, "I'm doing this because I'm bored."

"Well, this is going to alleviate that problem, Babe," Carlos said, earning a huff from Stephanie, "Big case ahead of us, let me introduce the core team to you, You already know Tank and Santos, but you don't know Bobby, Hector and Cal."

Bobby, another tank on legs was a black man, with cornrows in his head and was dressed in the typical Rangeman black. He gave Stephanie a smile and said, "I'm Rangeman's Medic, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me."

Carlos turned to another tank, this one with a flaming tattoo on his forehead. Stephanie rolled her eyes and said, "Do I even want to know?"

"Cal, he'll be heading the security team, since Tank and I can't. Tank will be heading Rangeman while we're undercover. He'll be our eyes and ears in places we can't get access to, yet."

Stephanie inclined her head to Cal, who smiled and gave Stephanie a fingerwave.

"Hector is our tech guru," Carlos said, pointing to another tank in black, but he was Hispanic with tear tracks tattooed on his cheeks, "He doesn't speak English, but he does speak Java."

Hector gave Stephanie a head nod and then Carlos said, "Now that introductions are out the way, let's get started on the plan."

Carlos walked over to the screen on the wall, and then turned it on saying, "Watershed Resorts is a couple's retreat in the middle of nowhere in Upper New York State, specializing in rejuvenating the lost 'spark.'"

"What in the hell does that mean?" Stephanie asked, earning a shrug from Carlos.

"It's a place that couples go to, when either one spouse cheats or whatever," Lester said, earning looks from the men, "What? Okay…well, I guess I've gone to a few, just for shits and giggles!"

Carlos gave Lester a look and then said, "Watershed Resorts is our newest client, and they cater to millionaires and billionaires, which is why they've called us in for an emergency. Someone inside the Resort is stealing money, stealing money and taking client's belongings and valuables. Millions of dollars' worth of cash and valuables gone, which is why, Babe, we're going undercover to get to the bottom of this."

Carlos held up a folder and said, "We're going to be posing as a couple, heading the fitness program of Watershed Resorts, we'll be taking a plane in and out of the resort, while we're undercover. It would take five hours by car to get there, and only 45 minutes to get there by plane, we have charges to watch over, so we have to be back at night."

Stephanie nodded her head and then said, "Good, those brats are a handful, so, we're a couple…how nice, well, when do we get started?"

"A new session begins in three days," Carlos said, looking at Stephanie and then at the men in the room, "We're all ready for the fall session of Watershed Resorts and we'll arrive there a day before the guests do to put cameras, microphones and anything else in hiding spots."

Stephanie nodded her head and said, "Okay, in two days, the children start school tomorrow, and they'll be settled in and happy, I hope."

"Speaking of children, that punishment we choose for them, goes in affect now, Diesel is with Ella now and Heidi is with Hal now," Carlos said, earning a grunt from Stephanie, "It's better than what you wanted them to do, Babe; spend 24/7 with your grandmother."

"Hey, she's old and junk," Stephanie said, waving her hands in the air, "Old people need help, right?!"

"….Right…." Carlos said, before he crossed his arms and said, "Alright, meeting's adjourn, we'll meet up tomorrow and go over the day after tomorrow."

Stephanie got up and cracked her fingers saying, "So, how long will we be posing together ?"

"As long as we have too, maybe a month or so," Carlos said, crossing his arms and looking down at Stephanie, "Why? You wish it was longer?"

"No!" Stephanie said, glaring at Carlos, "As if, you're not hot, or sexy, definitely not a Latino Adonis!"

Stephanie let out a yelp and covered her mouth, ignoring the leer Carlos gave her. He leaned forward and asked, "You think I'm a sexy Latino Adonis?"

"Go to hell!" Stephanie said, stumping out of the conference room, and running into Heidi, who raced over to her, hugging her tightly, "What up, munchkin?"

"'M not a munchkin!" Heidi said, glaring up at Stephanie, "I'm bored, Hal gave me all this work, and I finished it, it was so easy!"

"Well good, let's go home," Stephanie said, leading Heidi over to the elevator that resided close to the emergency stairs, "We have to get you ready for school."

"Do I have to go to school? Really?" Heidi asked, earning a head nod from Stephanie, "Damn it all…"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Hey punk, it's 10PM, lights out, you need to be up at 7 to get ready to go to school," Stephanie said, entering Heidi's room, "Turn off the laptop, and the TV."

"Alright," Heidi said, closing her laptop and then turning off the large TV that was mounted on the wall, "Goodnight Stephanie, see you in the morning."

"Alright," Stephanie said, turning off the light and making to close the door but Heidi sat up in her bed and said, "Steph! Wait! I need to talk to you about something."

"Oh god, please don't tell you're a woman now and have a period!" Stephanie asked, her face etched with worry, "I'll get anyone else but me to talk to you about that kind of shit-"

"No, it's about the opposite sex," Heidi said, a frown forming on her face, "Uh…do I even want to know what a period is?"

"Oh, maybe you'll know about it, one day…"Stephanie said, walking over to Heidi's bed and climbing in it, wrapping her arms around the girl, "Now, what's this about boys?"

"Well…um….you know how Diesel and I went out, right?" Heidi asked, rolling her blankets in her fists, "Last week, and we went swimming, right?"

"Right….did he do something to you?!" Stephanie suddenly sat up ridged and was about to jump out the bed, "You tell me right now, Heidi, and I'll punch a hole in this wall and kill the little shit dead."

"Oh….no, he didn't do anything to me, it's just, whenever I think about him, I get this weird butterfly feeling in my stomach, I…I kissed him on the cheek and I don't know why, ugh…what is going on, did I get cursed?!"

"Oh…well..I-" Stephanie said, before she got up and said, "Welp, I'm off to bed, early morning for me too and you know I'm-"

"Stephanie!" Heidi said, sitting up and giving the woman a glare, "This is serious, sit down and console me!"

Stephanie let out a grumble, but made her way back to the bed and sat down on it, making a noise when Heidi whimpered and motioned for the woman to hug her. Stephanie wrapped her arms around the girl and said, in a soft voice, "Look, it's nothing big, well, for me, but, I think you might like the little turd next door."

"What?!" Heidi asked, looking up, with horror, at Stephanie, "Like him!? No way, I don't like Diesel…he's mean, he's a cheater, a slob, loud, and a pain in my ass!"

"Well, why did you kiss him?" Stephanie asked, leaning back in the bed with Heidi, "There must have been a reason why you would have taken the time to lay a big wet one on his cheek."

"Well, we went swimming, and you know I don't know how to swim," Heidi said, looking down at her clasped hands, "But Diesel, he told me that he would hold me in the water, and I thought he would be joking about it, but he really did hold me, and we swam together. It was amazing and he was so sweet and he's so…strong….and male…and his eyes are a….nice…baby…blue….."

"Hello, earth to Heidi?!" Stephanie snapped, snapping her fingers in front of the girl's face, "Mhmm…you've got it bad, you have a crush on Diesel, hell you might even love-"

"UGH!" Heidi wailed covering her face, "Don't say that, Stephanie! Why am I doomed to like this cad?!"

"Heidi, it's alright," Stephanie said, running a hand over the child's head, "It's quite alright to like the boy, you guys do spend a lot of time together, you're going to school soon, and you'll meet other boys, maybe that silly crush will fade and someone better will show up."

"I hope," Heidi said, yawning widely and then curling up beside Stephanie, "Maybe this school thing will be alright, if helps me get over the cad."

"Mhmm," Stephanie said, as Heidi fell asleep beside her, "Goodnight, brat."

"M' not a brat…"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"School, now," Carlos said, pushing Diesel out the townhouse, "Watch over Heidi and remember; you go right to Rangeman after school, if not, I'll be sure that tomorrow, you get a ride from school to Rangeman."

Diesel tugged at the collar of his stiff dress shirt and said, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, smell ya later, old man…"

Diesel slung his bag over his shoulder and grumbled, walking over to Heidi's front door and knocking on it. He could hear Bob's loud barking and then the front door was wrenched opened and Heidi stumbled out, with two lunch boxes. She gave Diesel a look and then said, "You clean up nicely, Diesel, here, I made you lunch, let's go to school."

Diesel took the lunch box from Heidi and mumbled, "Thanks, as they made their way to school, leaving through the front gate and walking down the street.

For the last few days, Heidi had been ignoring Diesel, either freezing up and running away or rushing past him at Rangeman. What had he done to get her this angry at him, this time? He bet she was still burned about the fact they got busted sneaking back into the house, after their midnight fun. Geez, it's not the end of the world, she gets caught one time and now she hates him to the core. Women, he would never understand them!

Diesel looked over to Heidi and said, "Plaid suits you…"

Heidi tugged at her uniform skirt and said, "No it doesn't, shut up, at least you get to wear black slacks."

"You don't have to wear shiny dress shoes," Diesel said, looking down at Heidi's shoes, "You can wear whatever you want on your feet."

"No I can't, it's either penny loafers or Mary Janes, and they both suck," Heidi said, crossing her arms and pausing in her walk, "Oh…we're here…"

Rosewood Academy was housed in castle like building made of red brick. The castle even had two towers on each end that stood well above the castle. It was three stories tall and could easily house the plaza strip that was only a couple hundred feet away from it. There were wrought iron gates surrounding the school, with only a large main gate as a way to enter and leave the school. In the front yard of the school were dozens of children, in groups, laughing and running around, hugging one another and doing other things.

Heidi grabbed Diesel's arm and asked, "Are we ready to do this?"

"I hope so, cause we don't have a choice," Diesel said, looking down at Heidi, "Alright, let's do this…"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Hold up….hold up…..hold up!" Stephanie said, lifting up the new ids given to her, "Manoso, front and center!"

Carlos crossed his arms and gave Stephanie a look saying, "Babe."

"This says Stephanie Manoso," Stephanie said, holding up her fake driver's license, "As does my social security card and my passport…Carlos…."

"We have to play a married couple, Babe, I already told you this, they only hire married couples," Carlos said, earning a growl from Stephanie, "Which is why I got you a brand new set of IDs, don't worry, I won't get too wild in our marital bed."

"You're so gross," Stephanie sighed, looking down at the information in front of her, "Okay, so this is the schedule, It's so…schedule-ly."

"Well, they run a tight ship at the Watershed Resorts," Carlos said, sitting down across from Stephanie, "They like to keep the couples on point so they don't have time to remember the fact that they're there because either one of them is cheating or their sex lives are extinct."

"I got the layout of the resort," Lester said, coming in with a rolled up piece of paper, "It's 69 acres, four tennis courts, two swimming pools, one indoor the other outdoor, 25 hole golf course, hiking trail, two lakes, and several villas, cabins, suites and the main building that houses the economy rooms."

"I got a list of all employees, their job history, criminal records, everything," Bobby said, tossing several files onto the table, "Went through all of them, every one of them is squeaky clean, but that doesn't mean there aren't skeletons hiding in the closet."

"Hector is working on all the equipment now," Cal said, texting someone, "In about an hour, we'll be good to go and start setting up at the resort."

"Alright," Stephanie said, rubbing her face and picking up her phone, "I got only one text from Heidi, during the morning, she must be fitting in nicely at school."

"And no angry calls from the school, I guess Diesel's fine," Carlos said, leaning back in his seat, "We'll be back in time for the children to return home from school."

Stephanie shuffled through the files and then asked, suddenly, "Did Diesel talk to you about Heidi, in the last few days?"

Carlos turned his head and asked, "Why would you ask that?"

"Well…" Stephanie said, grabbing her mug of coffee, "Heidi may have a little crush on the boy, she's flipping bricks."

"I don't want to talk about this," Carlos said, getting up from his chair, "I'm going to work on some things before we leave."

"Come on, Diesel must talk to you about some things," Stephanie said, turning to Carlos, "I happen to know that he actually respects you, Carlos."

"Mhmm," Carlos said, heading for the door, "I'm sure he does, but he's not going to tell me anything, you know who might hold all the boy's secrets; Santos would, he's a bad influence."

Stephanie hummed as Carlos left the conference room. She turned her head to Lester and then got up and slunk over to Lester, saying, "Lester…how's it going?"

"Good, Gotta go over the parameter of these places, driving me bananas!" Lester chuckled, looking over to Stephanie, "You ready for your first assignment?"

"Yeah," Stephanie said, sipping her coffee and looking down at the maps, "Hey, do you and Diesel talk a lot?"

"As much as we can," Lester said, looking back down at the maps, "Eh, he's a reserved kid, doesn't like to speak much about his feelings…why?"

"Heidi has a crush on Diesel, do you think that Diesel might have one on her?" Stephanie asked, making Lester look up at her, "What?!"

"You're funny," Lester chuckled, but he smiled and said, "Diesel does like the girl, but I don't think he has a crush on her, maybe he's hiding it from me."

"Maybe," Stephanie sighed, finishing her coffee, "Welp, I'm going to get some food, I'm starving and Heidi didn't make me lunch, how mean."

"She had to go to school," Lester chuckled as Stephanie left the conference room, "Give her a break."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I hate school, I don't want to ever go back there again!" Heidi wailed, running past Stephanie and Carlos, "I hate it, I'm going to hide in my room and never ever leave!"

"Rough day, I supposed," Stephanie mused, as Diesel swaggered into Rangeman's office, with a smile on his face, "Hey, what's wrong with Heidi?"

"Oh…she's going to have a rough time at school," Diesel chuckled, sitting down in a chair, "A really rough time, you know how teenagers are, and Heidi is 4 years younger than them…"

"I told that girl to go into the middle school," Stephanie sighed, rubbing her head, "Oh god, teenage angst, I'm not ready for this…"

"While Heidi's day went to shit, let me tell you guys, the ladies love me and I'm popular," Diesel said, with a toothy grin, kicking his feet up and looking at the two adults, "I'll be running that school in a week tops."

Carlos rubbed his forehead and said, "I feel as though the calls will come soon…"

"Heidi!" Diesel said, jumping up and heading in the direction the girl went, "Come help me with my homework, I know you started it before classes even ended!"

"He's not helping!" Stephanie said, waving her hands in the direction Diesel walked to, "Fuck me…."

"Babe, as much as I would like to do that," Carlos said, earning a growl from Stephanie, "Don't worry, it'll get better for the girl soon, she just needs to adjust to school life, she'll be fine soon."

"One can only hope," Stephanie sighed, rolling her eyes and looking at the two children, "Or else I'm pulling her out of that school!"

TBC….

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Hopefully things get better soon! Please leave a review, I kind of like them :3


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry about not posting anything in the past month or so, school work and all that jazz! Here is something now, enjoy!

Warnings: none

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

Have fun!

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_Guardian_

_Chapter 16_

_Voices and Thoughts_

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"This is the worst place ever," Heidi muttered to herself, pulling her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around them, "I wish I could go back home and not have to go to this school."

She hid her face in her knees as a group of girls walked by her hidey hole, giggling and talking in rushed voices. She gritted her teeth as she heard snippets of their conversations.

"Ugh, that brat in calculus, how can you stand her," One girl asked, her voice sneering, "I don't know why she's even going to this school."

"Oh, I'm so much smarter than all of you," Another girl mocked loudly, "That's the wrong equation, you're not going to get the right answer like that!"

"It's not that hard, I've been doing this since I was 6, I thought this was taught at that age!" Another girl mimicked, making Heidi look up and glare out her hiding space.

"I do not sound like that!" Heidi hissed to herself, hearing the girls sigh loudly and make their way from her spot.

"How can a 14 year old sound like a 50 year old bitch?" One girl asked, earning giggles.

"Who knows, maybe she's an old soul?"

Heidi closed her eyes whispering, "I am not an old school, those ignorant women, how dare they assume what they do not know?!"

Heidi climbed out her hiding spot and pouted, her eyes pricking with tears and her bottom lip wobbling. She was in one of the many gardens that resided on the private school grounds, a rose garden with a hidden alcove that was only big enough for her to climb in. She spent her lunch time and free periods there, away from those mean people and away from everyone who made fun of her.

Heidi picked up her backpack and then made her way out the small rose garden, she finished her meal and that week's homework. Now, she could go to the library, pick up some books and enjoy her time. She thought her time at the school would be fun and exciting, she would be around peers her own age and do all the teenager stuff that she read in books. That was not the case, in fact, her peers in her classes refused to interact with her and the peers her age did as well, both sides called her an egghead, and old maid, anything that was on their mind that day. She had complain to Stephanie, but Stephanie and everyone else assured her that in a couple of weeks, they wouldn't be mean to her anymore, she would fit in soon.

Boy were they all wrong.

One month in and all Heidi wanted to do was have the earth open up and swallow her whole, she hated being here, she was going to tell Stephanie that she was never ever going back to school, interacting with people her age be damned, she was miserable here!

"Diesel, you are so funny!" A girl's voice said, making Heidi groan and roll her eyes in disgust, "You should tell us that joke again, you know the one with the monkey and the zoologist!"

"That joke is not funny," Heidi muttered, as she stopped and turned, hidden behind a tree to see Diesel, at a picnic table, with his posse, she called them a posse, because they sure did hang off very word of he said, "What do they have for brains? Rocks?!"

"Diesel, these tarts are good, did you make them?" Another girl asked, as she ate one of the sugar crusted tarts that Heidi had made for Carlos and not Diesel.

"I did, I love to cook during my free time," Diesel boosted, making Heidi roll her eyes again, "Enjoy them ladies, I have plenty at home."

"Dude, you heading to the party this weekend?" A boy asked, slapping Diesel's back, "Everyone is going to be there, you have too as well."

"Hell yeah, I love to party!" Diesel said, leaning back and smiling, "Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Heidi crossed her arms and said, to herself, "How is he going to go to the party, if he's on punishment, unless he sneaks out, which he wouldn't do, because he's learned his lesson, right?"

Heidi rubbed her temples and groaned as another girl giggled annoyingly at something Diesel said. Heidi humphed loudly, turned and flounced away, or tried to but she crashed into a hard body and she would have fallen back, if a pair of strong hands hadn't grabbed her shoulders.

"Woah now, I know I'm an ugly fellow, but that doesn't mean you have to be repelled by it!" An amused voice said, as Heidi was straightened up, "You fall and hurt yourself."

Heidi shook her head and said, "No, I was not looking, I was just trying to….oh," Heidi's voice faded away as she looked up at the person she crashed in, "Oh…"

Warm brown eyes looked down at Heidi, and full lips were upturned in a smile, "Oh?"

"I…" Heidi said, flustered, "I…yes?"

"Must have rattled your head, Princess," the person in front of Heidi said, before turning to hear laughter from the group, "Or, you're victim to these dodos…"

Heidi turned to see Diesel gesturing wildly with his arms and then grunted, saying, "He is my neighbor, sadly."

"Sadly," The person said, crossing his arms and looking over to Heidi, "I've seen you around, in the college classes, you're pretty young to be in advance classes like those."

"I'm not too young," Heidi said, rolling her eyes, "Shoot, everyone has been telling me this, what does my age have to do with my intellect capacity?"

"Yeah….?" Heidi asked, looking over to the person in front of her, "Aren't you a little older than most of the students in these classes?"

"I did some things," The person said, uncrossing his arms and looking down at Heidi, "Hey, why are you by yourself? Don't you have friends?"

"…." Heidi looked the other way, crossing her arms, her cheeks flushed. The person in front of Heidi clucked and said, "Well, that won't do, come sit with me, you can help me with my calculus, since you've known it since you were a 6 year old."

"Do I really sound that pretentious?" Heidi asked, tilting her head and earning a round of laughter from the person before her, "Hey! It's not that funny!"

"I think I know why you're the way you are," The person said, wrapping an arm around Heidi's shoulders, "Come on, princess, let's go get some dessert and then, during the study period, you can help me with my work."

Heidi huffed but let herself be led out the garden and into the dining hall. As the two left, they were met with silence. Heidi looked over to the person leading her away and asked, "Uh, why is everyone quiet?"

"Because, they're shocked," The person said, light heartedly, opening the door for Heidi, "They don't have such a good tutor like I do!"

"Oh good!" Heidi said, with a smile, as she walked into the dining hall, "I saw that they had cinnamon buns, I want one!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"No way…." Diesel turned his head to look at one of the girls sitting beside him, "Are you shitting me? With her?!"

"What?" Diesel asked, stuffing the last of the tarts into his mouth, "Whfft you taffing abffft?"

Diesel let out a sound as one of the girls pointed to some trees. He turned and saw Heidi talking to some tall, dark and handsome young man. Diesel nearly choked on his tart as the man wrapped an arm around Heidi's shoulders and lead her away. What in the hell?! Who in the hell let Mr. Suave get close to Heidi?!

Okay…granted for the past month, he hadn't been that kind to the girl, at school. They were in different groups now, well, he was in a different group, and Heidi, well, Heidi was just Heidi, by herself, but she kind of deserved it, the first two weeks, being a class with her was hell and the other students could attest to that. She was pompous, a know it all and worst, a teacher's pet, she even got special work from the teachers, on an accelerated track, so she could get college credits. He was smart! Okay, he used the answers from other people, but he could be smart if he wanted to! Not Heidi smart, but smart. Anyways, who cares, all that matters is that Heidi was with some strange dude, okay, he was a student, he wore the uniform, it's just that he didn't know who he was.

Diesel swallowed what was in his mouth and then asked, "Who in the hell is that?"

"Dominick Stevens," A red haired girl said, looking at Diesel, "I can't believe he would ever talk to the little know it all bitch."

Diesel felt a little guilty when the others called Heidi names, but it's not like she didn't deserve it, but she didn't deserve being called a bitch, "Hey, she's not a bitch, she's just smart and doesn't know what to do with it."

"Whatever," The girl said, looking back at the two walking into the dining hall, "Look, the only thing you need to know is that Dominick Stevens is the son of the Dr. Stevens, the school's doctor, and the founder of Rosewood Academy."

"Damn," Diesel said, letting out a whistle, "Talk about all the luck, right?"

"Mhmm, if he's hanging out with her, then she's untouchable, Dominick doesn't just pick anyone to be his friend, he likes the best of the best."

Diesel's eyes narrowed as he watched the two walk into the dining hall, great, if she's hanging out with Mr. Suave, then how in the hell is supposed to watch over her, it was better when she was alone, no handsome guys to swoop in and charm the pants off her. It wasn't like he was jealous; he had plenty of girls fawning after him heck, he might go out with one of them. He wasn't jealous at all.

"Whatever," Diesel said, looking over to his group of friends, "So, about this party, I think I can take a lucky girl with me…."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Someone kill me please…." Stephanie said through a broad smile as the shift leader of the fitness program bounced around to upbeat music, "Carlos, I thought we were in the kickboxing room today?!"

"I thought that as well," Carlos responded as the shift leader came bounding over to them, "Babe, don't kill her."

"Now come on Mr. and Mrs. Manoso!" The bright, bubbly shift leader squealed dancing around the two, "I don't want to see any sour faces, come on and work out with us!"

"Does my face look sour to you?!" Stephanie raged through her forced smile, "I'm so happy I could smash someone's face in!"

"Uh oh, everyone," The blond haired woman said, giving Stephanie a smile, "Looks like someone has the case of the getting up on the wrong side of the bed, maybe we should do some dance routines to make her happy!"

Stephanie felt her eye twitch as all the couples in the gym clapped and agreed with the blond Barbie doll. She turned to Carlos and hissed, "I'm going to take a quick walk, if I stay here any longer, I'll kill her."

"Babe," was all Carlos said, before Stephanie made her way out the fitness gym and into the hallway.

Stephanie closed the door and let out a long sigh, looking back at the fogged glass doors and then heading out the fitness building of the resort. She hoped that Barbie would be gone by the time she came back, it was 12, at 12:30, the group usually left to eat a healthy lunch that supposedly detoxed the body, pfft whatever. Give her pizza and junk food any day, she could work it off in the gym, with ease. Stephanie turned on her heels and made her way into the woods, on the hiking trail that the guest used for jogging and their weekend 5ks.

Stephanie stuffed her hands into the pocket of her workout pants and made her way through trees that were turning different colors, due to the cold weather. She closed her eyes and inhaled the sharp air and sighed out loud, "One month here and we've yet to find out who's stealing all these people's things."

In fact, the thefts have picked up in pace, Stephanie thought, as a gentle breeze gently blew through her curls, even with all the security, and cameras, items were still being stolen and money still wound up missing. It didn't make sense, even a high class thief would have had some problems getting into people's things, with all the high tech gadgets and whistles, this place was lock up tight, how in the hell were these people stealing all these things?

Stephanie closed her eyes and paused tilting her head up and enjoying the breeze. As she was standing there in the middle of the woods, she heard something, almost like a whisper.

_"…silly…silly…people…."_

Stephanie's eyes snapped opened and she pulled her sword out from its sheath, which, thanks to her basic knowledge of magic and the runes on her sword, was hidden from sight. Stephanie lifted her sword up, closing her eyes and listening to the whispering, whoever or whatever was whispering, it wasn't good.

_"Silly…silly…humans….soon we'll bathe in your blood…."_

_"Break your bones, drink the marrow…."_

_"smash your younglings into the ground…"_

_"…nothing….you….can….do…_"

Stephanie turned, suddenly and thrust her sword forward, the tip lightly pressing into the chest of a man who loomed before her. Her eyes hardened and she said, in a soft voice, "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that, I might have killed you."

"My apologies, Mrs. Manoso," The man said, backing away from the tip of the sword, and giving Stephanie a warm smile, "I was just wondering why you were in the middle of the woods, with a sword."

"Does it matter?" Stephanie asked, sliding her sword back in its resting place, "I wanted to take a walk, thought I heard a noise, can't be too careful now, can we?"

"No," The man said, looking into the woods, "You can't, though the fitness program is running now, shouldn't you be there, running the lesson plan for today?"

"Barbie's on the case," Stephanie said, turning away from the man and crossing her arms, "She has them working out to the 90's, or whatever, shouldn't you be doing paper work or some shit like that?"

The man chuckled and said, "I'm just concerned about the safety of my client's valuables and their lives. One month here, Mrs. Manoso, and you and your husband have yet to find the ones guilty of this, were you both lying to me, when you told me you were the best at what you did?"

"Lie require more lies, I was telling the truth when I said I was the best at what I did, Carlos spoke the truth as well." Stephanie said, placing her hands on her hips and looking at the man, "Your thieves or thief is quite the person."

The man crossed his arms and said, in a soft voice, "I see, well, if you catch them, I might have a job for them, have a good day, Mrs. Manoso…"

Stephanie sighed and watched as the man walked through the forest and then looked down at the ground. Stephanie had expected the owner of the Watershed Resorts to be an old man, with a young wife and billions of dollars rotting away in the bank. She hadn't expected a handsome man in his early thirties, a handsome single young man at that. She had asked why he opened a resort like this and he replied with a light, 'What, I can't help married couples because I'm not married?'

Something about that man irked her, he wasn't the one stealing, oh, she knew that, but something about him. It didn't feel right, her gut was telling her something, but she didn't know what it was telling her.

"Babe," Stephanie turned and found Carlos leaning up against an oak tree, looking at her, his face serious, "You missed the session."

Stephanie blinked slowly and said, in a soft voice, "Something is wrong here, Carlos, can you feel it?"

Carlos inclined his head and then said, "I do, the problem is, however, is the problem, we don't know what it is."

"Hmm," Stephanie said, looking over to the resort, "I guess we'll have to be diligent, right?"

"Right," Carlos said, giving Stephanie a dazzling smile, "By the way, Barbie assigned you to line dancing fitness tomorrow."

"WHAT?!" Stephanie shrieked, taking her sword out, "I'll kill that wench!"

Stephanie charged past Carlos swinging her sword and shouting obscenities, Carlos smiled and said, "Much better…" walking back to the resort.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Stephanie!" Heidi chirped as Stephanie walked into the townhouse, via the mudroom, "You're home, dinner's almost ready, I hope you like chicken fajitas, cause that's what we're having!"

"Be still my beating heart," Stephanie said, walking into the kitchen and seeing Heidi chopping vegetables, "You're cooking dinner? We've been eating cold cuts for the last three weeks, so, the school situation is better now?"

"Yup, I made a friend," Heidi said, with a smile, turning to the oven and pulling out a cake, that smelled divine, in Stephanie's case, "I help them with tutoring and they are very sweet, much better than Diesel."

"Good," Stephanie said, hanging up her jacket and turning to look at the girl, "I'm going to take a shower, I need to rid myself of the scent of Barbie."

Heidi nodded her head, as she busily grilled the chicken, not bothering to say anything to Stephanie, as the woman walked by her. As she cooked, Heidi couldn't help but think about Dominick, he was a very nice boy and she was extremely happy he wanted to be friends with her. It's almost too good to be true for her-

Heidi snapped her head up, feeling as though electricity flew through her body. She dropped the pair of tongs in her hands and then rounded on her feet and flew out the kitchen and over to the front door, to which she wrenched opened and stepped out on to the front steps. In the cool night, there was no one out there, just parked cars and a soft breeze. Heidi stood out there for a moment, just looking before turning to go back into the house. She had placed one foot on the threshold of the house when something flashed in her mind, causing her to fall to her knees, in shock.

It had been brief, almost too fast to be real but, Heidi had saw it, shadows of figures standing before a backdrop of fire and destruction, looking right at her. It chilled her to the bone, what did that mean? Why did she think of something like that?

Heidi gripped the door handle tightly before she stood up to her feet and walked back into the house, closing the door softly and locking it. She was a little shaken at that thought, but the raw emotions were fading fast, leaving her drained. She went back into the kitchen and resumed making dinner, hoping to get the image of fire and shadowed figures from her mind.

They never fully did leave her mind.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Let the games begin, Eve," A man's voice chuckled darkly into the night, "Soon, both you and Adam will produce my army."

TBC….

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Felt good to post that, now back to school work, leave a review please!


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